Bass Pro Makes A Wish Come True
A Tracker Boat “Make-A-Wish” You Won't Soon Forget
My last job as a member of the firearms media meant that I had to report on many Second Amendment-centric topics—often battling it out with the anti-gun crowd who cast law-abiding, gun-owning Americans as terrorists. That constant barrage of “negative news” takes a toll on a man’s soul.
So when I found out that Hook & Barrel, “The Lifestyle Magazine For Modern Outdoorsmen” was looking for an editor, I knew in my heart that H&B was going to bring me back to what initially called me to the outdoors (hunt/fish) industry—The fishing-hunting industry is full of great-hearted people who are passionate about spreading the good word and human-interest stories to the masses.
Lucas Makes A Wish For A Tracker Boat
My first face-to-face meeting with H&B's Co-Founder/CEO/EIC John Radzwilla and Co-Founder/Publisher Natalie Radzwilla was at the 2024 SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade) show. Together, we had countless meetings with outdoor sporting goods companies to discuss their latest and greatest product offerings, and how H&B can help spread the news to our audience. Those meetings all went very well. I knew John and Natalie were a dynamic duo, but I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
In between meetings, John took what looked to be a serious phone call… Serious enough that I witnessed him wiping tears as he hung up the phone, and then said to Natalie and me, “I’ve gotta go, there’s a young Make-A-Wish boy named Lucas that could use a hand. I believe our friends at Bass Pro Shops can be a big help.”
“This wasn’t about me. It was about a boy named Lucas. And though I aspire to someday have millions of dollars to be generous with, right now, in this season, I do not. But, what I do have is a billion-dollar Rolodex, and I knew I could make a few calls and get this done for Lucas,” says Radzwilla.
The call Radzwilla received was from a mentor, friend, and board member of Make-A-Wish North Texas, Andy Dunning.
Behind The Scenes At Make-A-Wish
Andy Dunning has been a steadfastly compassionate Make-A-Wish helper for more than 25 years acting as Make-A-Wish’s North Texas’ lead auctioneer. Dunning became a board member a little over a year ago.
“My true involvement in wishes, other than what is known as ‘Wish Night’ which is a gala held in Dallas one night per year, has been my ability to raise money for the organization to grant the wishes,” Dunning says.
When Lucas’ wish came up in a board meeting and Dunning read Lucas’ letter, he said, “When I saw Lucas’ drawing of the Tracker boat I instantly thought of John Radzwilla. All wishes go through an approval process to determine how much money can be spent to fulfill a wish (the average cost of a wish is between $10K and $11K). Obviously, the boat itself (valued at $23K) was well above average.” But Dunning felt strongly that he could potentially get the boat donated at least partially. “That’s when I reached out to John who told me he’d have an answer within 48 hours.”
Lucas’ wish, which actually began when he was nine years old, was now ready to be granted. “Shortly after my call to John, he spoke with Johnny Morris who immediately said ‘We’re all in!’ They were so awesome and stepped up and donated 100% of the boat,” Dunning says.
Awesome, yes, but the awesomeness doesn’t end there. Dunning says, “What in turn that 100% donation does for Make-A-Wish—instead of granting one wish, technically we get to grant three wishes, because Lucas’ wish was free, saving us from having to spend that $23K. By Johnny’s gracious heart, we’ve now granted three wishes instead of one.
“Our goal in the North Texas territory is to grant 1,000 wishes per year, and currently we’re tracking to grant around 630,” Dunning says. “There are just over 1,100 kids in the North Texas pipeline right now waiting to have wishes granted, that’s how important this deal is for us—and that’s just in the state of Texas, alone!”
Get To Know Lucas
Some might wonder why Lucas’ wish took two years to come to fruition. Dunning says, “Part of it comes down to medical clearance, depending on where the child is in their medical/health journey. Lucas had to go through multiple bouts of chemotherapy treatments before getting the necessary clearance from his doctors. Once the wish is medically cleared by the child’s medical team, the wish-research process begins to see how we can bring the wish to life. This includes the budget approval process. The moment the clearance was given, every single board member gave a resounding ‘YES’ to Lucas’ wish.”
Senior Wish Design Manager Meredith Clements gave us the following backstory on Lucas. “Although Lucas is only 11, he is an avid fisherman. His family lives on a farm and many of their activities involve animals and outdoor fun, including showing goats and fishing. Three days before his diagnosis, Lucas got his goat “Bluebonnet” aka “Blue.” During his treatment he was motivated to get back to “Blue” as she was then, and now, his best friend. While he was going through treatment, he was cleared to continue participating in his goat-showing adventures. Lucas’ mom shared that sometimes goats act up a bit when all together and she and others were just mesmerized that “Blue” would quickly position herself between Lucas and the goat(s) acting up. Unusual behavior for a goat, but maybe not a best friend.”
At this same time, Lucas was cleared for other activities, including fishing, and his grandmothers had responsibilities for the kids while the parents were working and fishing was the number one activity. Knowing his love for fishing, his social worker suggested they participate in C.A.S.T for Kids Foundation. After doing so, Lucas is now even more excited about a boat so that he can take other kids out to teach them how to fish. He is 11 and already showing such a giving heart.”
Lucas’ Wish For A Grizzly 1860cc Boat By Tracker
“When we made the wish, we knew it was an ask,” says Lucas’s mother, “He either wanted the boat or to fix up the local little league ballpark so his friends could play baseball.”
John paused from our busy schedule on the tradeshow floor and texted a friend, Bass Pro Shops’ founder Johnny Morris. A quick and simple reply came back, “We’ll be happy to help to make this boy happy.”
From there, John knew that with the biggest ask handled, he needed to outfit the boat with rods, reels, bait, and other tackle. So he reached out to a contact at Lake Fork Trophy Lures, Matt Morgan the CEO of the legendary East Texas lure manufacturer as well as his friends at Pure Fishing, owners of Abu Garcia, Ugly Stik, Berkely, Plano, and more.
All responded immediately with eagerness to assist in making Lucas’ wish come true.
“All of a sudden, all these boxes started showing up at my door,” says Radzwilla. “Rods, reels, tackle boxes, baits, etc. I’m pretty sure the UPS driver thought we were in the process of opening our own bait and tackle shop,” chuckles Radzwilla.
Heartfelt Words From John Radzwilla
Having a young boy myself, I can not, nor do I even want to try to, ever imagine the emotions, stress, and dark moments Lucas’ parents must have endured. Though I may have been the guy who made the calls to pull Lucas’ Make-A-Wish together, this was in no way about me—it was about Lucas and his amazing heart. His desire to teach kids the joys of fishing, and to help others in their time of need (even though he was fighting his own fight with cancer) melted my heart and inspired me to be better. At nine years old, I was thinking about Ninja Turtles—Lucas was thinking of community. He is an incredible kid, and it was my absolute honor to help make this wish come true. It’s something I still get choked up about on so many levels. What has occurred to me through this process is that charity is not always about money. You can make great things happen for those in need sometimes with a simple text message. Who knows where this goes, only time will tell, but that text to Johnny may have set in motion, generations of healing for children in need, due to the selflessness of one young man named Lucas.
Parting Make-A-Wish Thoughts
Before wrapping the phone chat with Andy Dunning, I told him what an honor it was to speak with him about Make-A-Wish and what his amazing team of dedicated people accomplish regularly. Embarrassingly I let him know that I’d never really had any professional affiliation with Make-A-Wish prior to John Radzwilla’s connection with Make-A-Wish and Lucas’ story.
Dunning put into words that hit home: “That’s the thing about granting wishes, you just got affected by it, and now you will be paying attention to the power that Make-A-Wish has. It’s even more than just what these kids get out of it—all the hope and joy they get from the wish they receive—there’s how I’m affected, how you’re affected. And so many other people are affected by a wish getting granted. Just imagine how all those people may go forward and do for other people. That’s the part that I like the most—the fact that that one wish grants so much hope to so many people, not just the person receiving the wish.”