One wish granted, waiting for another

High school club gives girl with kidney disorder a shopping spree; now she waits on donor test results. COSTA MESA -- As she sits after school in her bedroom -- recently furnished with a laptop computer, a digital camera, new clothes and more -- Gloria Barrera waits intently for a gift of a different kind.

The Costa Mesa High School senior, who plans to attend Orange Coast College and major in business administration, was diagnosed last year with end-stage renal disease, a kidney disorder. Recently, her mother, father and older brother went in for compatibility tests -- and when the results come back, they will know if they can act as donors.

Until then, Gloria, 17, is doing her best to put on a chipper face.

“Last year, I couldn’t concentrate,” she said. “I could tell my legs were swollen and tingling. I would be in class, and I couldn’t pay attention.”

Now, though, Gloria has a support team at school as well as at home. Last month, she became the first-ever recipient of Costa Mesa High’s Make-A-Wish Club, which gave her $2,600 to go on a shopping spree.

The club, which formed on the campus in 2003, is one of dozens of Southern California high school clubs affiliated with the nationwide Make-A-Wish Foundation. The foundation grants wishes to children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 18 who have life-threatening medical conditions.

To grant a wish, a high school club must raise at least $4,000. Over the last two years, through T-shirt sales, car washes and other fundraisers, the Costa Mesa High School club netted nearly a thousand dollars more than that goal. On Jan. 14, accompanied by her family and members of the foundation, Gloria spent six hours indulging herself at South Coast Plaza and Best Buy.

“It was the first thing that came to my mind,” she said about her wish.

Already, the students are pressing ahead to raise money for another recipient. Jerry Howell, the advisor of the club, said the fundraisers were a rite of passage for many of its 60-odd members.

“There are kids in the club for whom it’s the first time they’ve really been part of anything, that they’ve really done something for a greater cause,” he said.

The Make-A-Wish Club’s most popular fundraising item, designed by the mother of co-president Katie Brazer, is a T-shirt with a rhyming slogan: “What did your shirt do? My shirt made a wish come true.”

According to Penny Collura, youth development manager for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Orange County, school clubs rarely end up benefiting students on their own campuses. However, when Collura heard about Gloria and the fundraising efforts at Costa Mesa High, she realized that they were a perfect match.

“This year, the club had some more experienced kids,” Collura said. “When they first started the club, the people who started it were freshmen and sophomores. It takes them a while to learn the ropes.”20060210iug1sincDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Gloria Barrera, middle, received a shopping spree thanks to Reina Layug, left, Jerry Howell, Katie Brazer and others.