Grinch steals Christmas gifts from Wishing Star

Wishing Star will be granting a few less wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses after they were robbed Wednesday morning, the second time in a month.

The organization reported this morning a thief came through a window in the front door, and stole Christmas gifts for three families. In all, more than $1,000 in goods have been stolen from Wishing Star recently.

Previously they were looking for assistance to help find gifts for five families, but since presents for three families were stolen, they are now looking for help for eight families.

One of the families who was going to be receiving gifts was the family of four-year-old Enecia Campos, who was traveling to Spokane from Tri-Cities to receive cancer treatment.

She’s spirited, spunky, a spark full of life who at the ripe age of four is battling leukemia. Enecia Campos may be small in size, but not in her fight.

“Nothing stops her … we want to be the support to her but really she’s the one that supports us,” her dad Abel Campos said.

Enecia lives in Tri-cities with her family and comes to Spokane once a month for chemotherapy. So far its work and her cancer is in remission.

But their visit Wednesday had another purpose.

“Today we were supposed to go to Wishing Star to pick up Christmas presents,” Abel Campos said.

But this place that brings hope and joy to children with life-threatening illnesses got a bit of that joy taken away when they were robbed overnight.

“My stomach fell … and you just feel queasy something about feeling so violated,” Wishing Star program director Sarah Carpenter said. Gifts for three families, including the Campos family were stolen.

To add to the awful news, the Campos family home was robbed last week.

“It just seems like we got robbed twice is what it feels like,” Campos said.

But just like a real star, this unfortunate event isn’t diminishing Wishing Star’s powerful light.

“With the community’s help we can maintain our focus on the wishes and make Christmas possible for these families,” Carpenter said.

Some might say the Grinch stole Christmas for the Campos family but, in the end, they’ve got each other, they’ve got their little princess, and they’ve got love to go around.

“Although our house got robbed and Wishing Star got robbed, we still have a home and we still have a family that’s healthy and we got each other,” Campos said.

After posting the story here and on Facebook
there was an outpouring of calls for support for Wishing Star. Now KXLY Broadcast Group and 92.9 ZZU is joining those calls for support as well. KXLY TV will be donating $750 to Wishing Star and 92.9 ZZU, which is currently running its annual Christmas Wish fund, will donate $750 to Wishing Star, for a total of $1,500 to help make sure those families get presents this Christmas.

If you want to donate to Wishing Star to help these families out as well, please call (509) 744-3411.