LIFE

Butler student's making a big difference awarding little wishes to kids with cancer

Butler student is 22 and has raised $250,000 to grant little wishes to sick kids

Maureen C. Gilmer
maureen.gilmer@indystar.com
Liz Niemiec, a senior at Butler, runs her own nonprofit, Little Wish. She grants small wishes to kids with cancer. Over five years, she has granted 400-plus wishes and raised $250,000.

Liz Niemiec remembers seeing the little boy in the casket, his tiny hands clutching a picture of his beloved dog. That dog was the one thing that brought him happiness in the final weeks of his life.

"I lost my friend Max to cancer when he was 7 years old," she says while cradling a cup of chai from a neighborhood coffee shop. "He was my fifth-grade teacher's son, adopted from Russia, and he had a rare kidney cancer."

Toward the end of Max' battle, Niemiec said, his parents knew he really wanted a dog, so despite doctors' concerns, they got him one. "I saw how happy it made him for the last couple of months of his life."

If you like dogs and kids, keep reading.

Niemiec still gets teary-eyed talking about that day five years ago, but she shakes away the sadness to focus on the good that has happened since. Because it was on that day, leaving the funeral home, that she blurted out to her mom, "I want to help kids like Max; I think we should start a foundation or something."

Niemiec's mom, Therese, could be forgiven for thinking it was a temporary fixation — that her kindhearted daughter would abandon her lofty goal in time. After all, she was just 16, too young to know what she wanted to do with her life, right?

That teenager is now 22 and a senior at Butler University, studying nonprofit management. She has devoted much of her spare time in the past five years to running Little Wish, a nonprofit she set up to grant small wishes ($300 to $800) to kids with cancer.

For comparison's sake, Make-A-Wish, the national organization granting wishes to kids with life-threatening medical conditions, averages several thousand dollars per wish. In fact, the organization contacted Niemiec when she first applied for nonprofit status to ensure their efforts would not overlap, but as her foundation's name suggests, Niemiec is focused on little wishes.

Liz Niemiec granted Wish No. 393, a gaming system delivered to a boy named Carson, who is being treated at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at St. Vincent.

Last week, she granted Wish No. 393, a gaming system delivered to 12-year-old Carson, who is being treated at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at St. Vincent.

Impressive for a college student who works part time, babysits, is active in the Delta Gamma sorority and is completing an internship this semester at Christel House International.

But these wishes, these kids, keep her going.

"It's not like it's a job or anything," she said. "If you could go on a wish delivery, it's awesome. It just makes your whole day, so I always try to squeeze them in."

What started as a small fundraiser ($2 bracelets) in high school to finance her first wish has evolved into $250,000 in wishes granted to kids at Peyton Manning Hospital, Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, Lutheran Children's Hospital in Fort Wayne, Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, Children's Hospital Los Angeles and South Bend Children's, where Max died.

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Niemiec will be the first to tell you she's had incredible support from friends and family back home in Michigan City and in Indianapolis, and she couldn't have done it without her mom, who has been by her side from the beginning.

Therese Niemiec chairs Little Wish's board of seven. The organization has no paid staff. One of the board members is attorney Addie Wood, who represents children in court in the Hamilton County Guardian Ad Litem program.

"Seeing the joy of what a little wish does — the impact of Legos, a doll, a computer — is just awesome," Wood said. "Liz is such an impressive young woman to have the drive and determination to start a foundation. Her heart is just so big."

One young man who has seen that heart is Cody Bevelhimer, 13, an eighth-grader at Zionsville Middle School. Last year, Niemiec delivered a laptop to him while he was undergoing treatment for lymphoma.

"I was just talking to my grandma, and in came Liz with a big box with a bow. I couldn't believe it."

On Friday, Cody was back at Peyton Manning Hospital for treatment when he got to witness another boy see his wish fulfilled. He didn't know the boy, but he knew what was about to happen when he saw Niemiec walk into the pediatric waiting room with a big bag and bow. In it was an Xbox and several video games.

Carson, 12, received an Xbox and games from Little Wish. He is a patient at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital.

"The smile on his face was unbelievable," Cody said. "Even though it's a small gift, it makes such a big difference."

That's just the reaction Niemiec is going for.

"I was so young when I started Little Wish, and when you’re young, you really want to make a big impact, but you can really only do little things," she said. "I think that everyone can always do little things, so I thought it would reach the most people that way. Anyone can make a little wish come true."

Wishes frequently include electronic items, she explained, because too often, sick kids are isolated from their friends and can't do much else. But she also has helped deliver a tree house, an electric Jeep, tickets to a Cubs game, American Girl dolls and professional art supplies.

Last year, Niemiec approached Indianapolis-based Lids, the sports apparel retailer, about getting hats donated for kids with cancer.

Lids decided to do one better. The company's foundation donated $10,000 to Little Wish and is now partnering with the organization to identify wish recipients on the West Coast. In fact, the company delivered 11 wishes to children in the Los Angeles area last week.

Niemiec's nonprofit recently won fourth place in Lids Foundation's Tip the Hat Award competition. That came with a $25,000 prize. Edging her out for the top prize was Make-A-Wish. Pretty good competition for the young philanthropist.

Other than the Lids sponsorship, Little Wish depends on private donations and fundraisers, including a recent wine dinner at Ambrosia that raised $7,000, a hog roast in Michigan City that raised $15,000 and a New Orleans-style party on Mass Ave. planned Oct. 23.

It would seem the dream of a teen to make a small difference in children's lives has come true. But there's more work to be done.

Niemiec intends to continue working as Little Wish's executive director after graduation, and some day, she hopes to take the foundation international. But she'd also like to get more young people thinking about philanthropy, perhaps by developing a program for schools.

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"You can do little things every day for someone else. Think about how much better the world would be if we all thought about that."

A little boy in California would agree. With help from Lids, Niemiec and her mom traveled to Los Angeles during the summer to deliver wishes, thanks to money raised in the company's West Coast stores.

First on the list was a 7-year-old named Anthony. His wish? "A policeman dog."

"This little boy wanted a dog, and that's special because that's how it all started. With Max," Niemiec said.

In searching for a German shepherd pup for the boy before the trip, she contacted a breeder in Pennsylvania. When she told him who the pup would be going to, he stopped her and said his son also had suffered from cancer and had a dog given to him. His son passed away, but that dog would deliver pups and he would be honored if one of those pups would help another little boy (coincidence No. 1).

"Little Josie (the pup) flew from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles, and we all went for the delivery," Niemiec said. "It was the most special thing. We couldn't bring the dog inside the hospital, so I had to pick a random spot. I looked out the window and pointed to a giant red bear in the hospital courtyard. Anthony comes down in a wheelchair and he has a face mask on, he looks very sick, and I'm carrying the dog around the corner.

Liz Niemiec flew to Los Angeles to give 7-year-old Anthony his wish, "a policeman's dog."

"Even though I couldn't see his face, I could see his eyes, and he had the biggest smile. I could hear him screaming from behind the mask. It was the best ever. The nurses took off the mask and you could see the biggest grin."

After meeting Anthony and his doctor, also named Josie (coincidence No. 2), Niemiec took a closer look at the plaque on the bear they were standing next to. The bear's name was Max (coincidence No. 3).

"I freaked out, it was amazing," she said. "I'm not really religious, but I am spiritual, and it's hard to believe these things are random."

Call Star reporter Maureen Gilmer at (317) 444-6879. Follow her on Twitter: @MaureenCGilmer.

Mardi on Mass

What: Live jazz, Cajun shrimp boil, beignets, games.

When: Oct. 23

Where: Fire station near Massachusetts and College avenues.

Tickets and info: $20, www.littlewishfoundation.org.