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When you wish

Sometimes a push is all it takes to turn a daydream into a dream-come-true.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative - January 27, 2010

Sometimes a push is all it takes to turn a daydream into a dream-come-true.

"The book fell out of the bookcase to the floor right in front of me," Pam DesRoches says. "I had totally forgotten in all of the madness and in all of the illness that had happened, I had forgotten she had this dream."

Honoree loses his battle

Matthew Watson

One of the boys honored at Basin Electric's 2009 event was Matthew Watson. Matthew was the inspiration behind the MDU Resources Group's "MDUR-Bald as a Light Bulb" team.
Matthew's father, Randy, works for MDU Resources Group. In 2004, Matthew was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Matthew died on July 15, 2009. He was eight years old. Matthew will be honored at Basin Electric's 2010 St. Baldrick's event.
The Bald as a Light Bulb team captain, Dyke Boese, says Matthew was an inspiration to the team because he stayed positive through his cancer treatments. "Matthew took part in our St. Baldrick's event and had the whole place rolling with laughter," Boese says. "My son was a classmate of Matthew's and he told me that Matthew's favorite candy was SweeTARTS. To this day whenever he sees SweeTARTS he says, 'That was Matthew’s favorite candy.'
"So the next time you see SweeTARTS, remember all the kids who are being so brave and positive in their fight against cancer," Boese says.

DesRoches is talking about her daughter. In December 2003, 11-year-old Amber DesRoches
was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. She spent a lot of time at Medcenter One in Bismarck, ND, undergoing cancer treatments. She'd receive chemotherapy for two days, be monitored for several more days, then receive blood transfusions. DesRoches says Amber would spend a week to ten days at a time looking at the same walls.

Amber's mind wandered. She took notes. She had a big idea - to transform the children's wing at the hospital. "After a few days of telling the nursing staff and anybody who'd listen, she said, 'Who's in charge of this place? Can I get an appointment?' And to her credit, she did," DesRoches says.

But after four years of battling blood cancer, Amber died days before Christmas 2007. Months later, DesRoches found that book of notes. She believes it was a sign sent straight from above. "So we discussed it as a family and decided to talk to the hospital... We came around to the idea that there is a need, and this is the seed to propel things forward."

The seed has grown to a full-fledged capital campaign for "Amber's Dream." Amber wanted the children's wing to be a magical place. Using Amber’s notes, Medcenter One has developed, among many concepts, a Peter Pan-like Never Say Never Land, Imagination Island Retreat, and Endless Hallway of Hope.

Basin Electric learned about Amber's story during North Dakota's first St. Baldrick's event, held at Basin Electric Headquarters in Bismarck on March 17, 2008. St. Baldrick’s is the world's largest volunteer-driven fundraising event for childhood cancer research. Thousands of volunteers shave their heads in solidarity of children with cancer, while requesting donations from friends and family. Since 2008, Basin Electric, together with other cooperatives and organizations in North Dakota and Wyoming, has raised more than $200,000 for the foundation while shaving nearly 300 heads.

At the 2008 and 2009 Basin Electric St. Baldrick's events, Amber DesRoches was honored as a local child who lost her battle with cancer. It was through that connection that Amber's Dream began picking up steam with the cooperatives. Medcenter One determined the Amber's Dream expansion project will cost $700,000. The lead gift - $80,000 for the children’s playroom - comes from the local electric cooperatives of Basin Electric, Capital Electric, KEM Electric, Mor-Gran-Sou Electric, Roughrider Electric and Slope Electric.

Mark your calendars!

Basin Electric will be holding the cooperative's 3rd annual St. Baldrick's event in 2010.

Who: All willing shavees and their supporters

When: March 17, 2010

Why: To make 2010 the biggest and best year yet for fighting childhood cancer

Watch www.basinelectric.com and basinelectric.wordpress.com for more details.

"Amber's Dream is going to be a legacy for children," says Rainalda Schaeffer, Medcenter One nurse manager. "There is going to be a developmentally appropriate playroom. Each room is going to be individualized for the child. The entire children’s wing is going to be a fantasy land. It's all going to be child friendly and meet the imagination and dreams of a child."

The project is expected to be complete in 2010. "We look to Amber to guide us and make sure we do it right," DesRoches says. "She’s a motivator. Believe me; she's a motivator."

St. Baldrick's money makes local impact

Amber DesRoches' connection to St. Baldrick's at Basin Electric has grown even more.

One of DesRoches' doctors, Dr. Heather Stefanski, has been awarded a research grant from the St. Baldrick's Foundation.

Dr. Heather Stefanski and
paient Baylor Lindsay

Stefanski works for the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Her research focuses on the immune system following a bone marrow transplant. "After a patient undergoes a bone marrow transplant, they have the immune system of a baby, and they won't have a normal immune system for up to a year after transplant," Stefanski says. "That means when they get an infection, they just can't respond to it. So my research is focused on improving the immune system more quickly."

Stefanski had been working on the research for about a year before she got the grant. She says the money will help her continue. "The grant essentially pays my salary for one year," Stefanski says.

She says about 80 percent of her time is spent working on the research. One-half of a day every week is spent at a clinic for children with cancer and bleeding disorders, and a month of each year is spent doing bone marrow transplants and more at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital. Amber DesRoches was one of Dr. Stefanski's patients there.