CV. FAST FIVE: Shawn Langenderfer: Make-A-Wish Idaho superhero
Meet Shawn Langenderfer, a mild-mannered human resource professional at the City of Hayden by day. Nights and weekends can find her in a Make-A-Wish Idaho T-shirt meeting with children facing critical illness and helping grant their wishes.
Generation: I am a Gen Xer who grew up with a party line for our phone and I remember when MTV actually had music videos.
Career and community involvement: I love human resources and over the last 20 years have had the opportunity to work with two great employers that allowed me to balance work and life. As a mom of four active kids and a volunteer, the ability to do life when needed has been such an important part of my career. I graduated from Leadership Coeur d’Alene with the best class ever in 2013.
Parental status: 2020 found our youngest of four children in college making my husband and me officially empty nesters. Don’t tell my kids, but we are really enjoying it.
1. What is happening with Make-A-Wish Idaho at this time, and how many kiddos are on the waiting list in North Idaho?
The health and safety of our wish kids and families is our priority. This means that wishes for tangible items and those that can be granted while social distancing are the focus for the foreseeable future. We utilize virtual calls instead of in-person meetings and send packages in lieu of wish celebrations. Our focus remains to provide hope, strength and joy to Idaho kids who are facing critical illness. There are currently 34 wishes pending in North Idaho.
2. Why did you become a wish granter?
I became a wish granter in 2016 as a way to give back to the community. I have since learned how special a wish can be to a sick child.
3. What are one or a few of the best experiences you've had while helping dreams come true for kiddos going through tough times?
All wishes have been special, but I have really enjoyed the wishes that were granted right here. There is nothing more fun than seeing a wish kid's face light up when they see their backyard transformed into what they wished for. When you learn how these wishes help a sick child through some terrible times, it makes it impossible not to help.
4. What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?
I didn’t own a cell phone until 2015 and my first phone was an iPhone 4 that was a hand-me-down from my mother.
5. If you could share any message with the community about the work of Make-A-Wish Idaho, what would that message be?
At its heart, Make-A-Wish is a grassroots organization. It started as an idea 40 years ago in Arizona after a group of people came together to make a little boy with leukemia an honorary policeman. Today, there is a network of Make-A-Wish chapters throughout the country to provide a wish to every child facing a critical illness. We can only do that with the support of individuals and each wish kid’s neighbors! Each wish is unique, and now more than ever, we need various resources to grant these local wishes. Wishes for backyard playsets, “she sheds” and hot tubs are a few of the wishes in the works right now. These wishes require a different set of expertise, funds and support than we’ve needed in the past. We need your help and look forward to bringing more people into experience what helping a wish to be granted feels like! Visit www.wish.org/idaho for details.
