DeHaan RV partners with Make-A-Wish foundation to ease burdens of travel for Hartland boy and family
By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
In the spirit of giving, Elkhorn’s DeHaan RV Center partnered up with the Make-A-Wish foundation to make a 4-year-old Hartland boy’s Christmas wish come true last Friday.
For 4-year-old Isaac Krill – older than his twin brother Sullivan by just two minutes – traveling has never been easy due to the extensive medical equipment needed while living with intractable epilepsy, meaning his seizures fail to come under control with treatment.
Around 30 family members and friends – and Santa and Mrs. Clause as well – turned out to support the family Friday at DeHaan RV Center in Elkhorn. Make-A-Wish additionally provided treats and gifts for the family on Friday.
Kim DeHaan, who has owned and operated the business with her husband Dave since his father’s retirement, said she believes the idea behind the trailer was that the family enjoys camping and traveling, although due to Isaac’s illness and equipment needs, it wasn’t feasible for the family to visit family or travel.
DeHaan said getting involved with the foundation has been a great experience, especially since everybody forgets from time to time there are people struggling.
DeHaan said when they were approached, they just knew that it was something they had to do considering it’s the right thing to do.
“To just be part of it, is, wow,” she said. “It’s neat, it’s a shared adventure.”
Dave Rogers of DeHaan RV Center, working with RV sales, said it all began with a phone call from the Make-A-Wish foundation.
“Just inquiring, saying that they had someone who was interested in camping, RVs, and seeing if we’d be interested in participating and seeing if there’s anything we could do,” he said.
Rogers said he brought the inquiry to DeHaan who without hesitation agreed it was a no-brainer.
Continuing to gather information, Rogers said they soon found out it was a little boy with an interest in camping and began to take down the specific needs they would need to accommodate in choosing a trailer.
“We looked at our inventory and this is when we came up with this as one that fits well,” he said. “It was kind of putting it all together in something that we thought would work for them.”
The 2013 North Trail Focus FX23 23-foot trailer, purchased jointly by DeHaan and the Make-A-Wish foundation, is equipped with a queen-size bed for Isaac’s parents, bunk beds for Isaac and his twin brother Sullivan and a dinette that turns into an extra bed for use by Jacoby, Isaac’s 8-year-old brother.
The trailer features an outdoor shower, with both hot and cold water, an electric slide out feature to provide more floor space, a microwave, refrigerator, propane-run heat and water heater, tons of storage and even an option for cable television hookup.
To cap it all off, an electrically extending awning will allow the family to enjoy the outdoors with a little cover from the sun and even listen to some music with speakers built into the side of the trailer.
Rogers said they forwarded information on to their contact at the Make-A-Wish foundation, who then in turn got in touch with Krill family, forwarding a link to the RV center’s website so the family could determine if it was something that would make travel more do-able for Isaac.
Friday morning, DeHaan said they brought in Dan Krill, Isaac’s father, and got the family’s vehicle all set up to tow the trailer and showed him all the ins and outs so the family would be set to roll.
