Bill Barrs would look good in a Santa Claus suit. He is the right height (5’11”), the right age (66), and has the right look: friendly, moustached, approachable and fatherly, with an easy, broad smile. He even has the right laugh, which, of course, is better to hear than to read about.

What’s amazing is that Bill can laugh at all. In 1992, he lost his only son to renal disease. Bill’s first wife died four years later. He suffered a painful divorce from his second wife six years ago, and has spent the last few years “discovering who he is again” after making the move to the Island for health reasons and to be close to his older sister.

As a wish grantor for the Vancouver Island branch of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that grants wishes to children aged 3-17 with life-threatening diseases, Bill gets to play a sort of Santa Claus several times a year.

Various people may refer the children to the organization: friends, neighbours, social workers or doctors. After the referral, Bill conducts interviews with the children and their families. When a child’s wish is identified, he co-ordinates efforts between the organization, the family, and whoever is involved at the other end.

Wishes can range from trips to Disneyland to meetings with celebrities to wild shopping sprees in New York. Bill has been involved with Make-A-Wish on various levels over the years, but this is the job he likes best.

“Wishes are as varied as a child’s imagination – you’ve just got to go with it. It’s very rewarding, but can be pretty tough sometimes,” he says of the interview process. Some families are very resistant to the idea that their child could qualify for the program. Bill’s easygoing nature and ready smile help to smooth over tense situations and make the children feel more comfortable talking to a stranger about their deepest desires. His administrative skills make parents feel that their child’s wish is in good hands. In fact, the people at the Make-A-Wish Foundation find his services (all volunteer) fundamental to their efforts on the Island.

After his son Kent’s death, Bill, an avid golfer, organized a golf tournament in his memory, raising about $40,000 over the next few years and donating it to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Gradually, Bill became more involved with Make-A-Wish on a volunteer basis, acting as the secretary treasurer on the provincial level and serving on the board of directors.

“I was very involved with the rules and regulations and the legal end of things,” he says. Bill did public speaking engagements at golf tournaments and service clubs, spreading the word about Make-A-Wish as much as possible. “I know what it did for my family,” he says of the organization that sent him, his son, and his first wife to Maui, Hawaii to fulfill his child’s wish.

During this time, Bill worked for many years at BCTel in commercial and residential installations, data services and customer services. He was also the representative for the telecommunication workers’ union, putting in many volunteer hours handling grievances. But all his work and volunteer activity added up and the pace of life was too fast; it took its toll on his health. Forty-two years in North Vancouver was enough. In 2005, Bill was ready to move after his official retirement from (paid) work. No more big city life for him!

Four years ago, Bill was invited back to the Mainland to attend a barbecue for Make-A-Wish’s “1,000 wishes” event, in which people involved in the organization came together to celebrate the 1,000th wish granted to a child in British Columbia and the Yukon; Bill reunited with many former colleagues and board members. Not surprisingly, he decided to re-join the effort, this time as part of the Vancouver Island volunteer team.

“When I moved to the Island, there was nobody over here to do wish interviews,” says Bill. “They were done by phone from the Mainland. I used to travel all over the place to do interviews, but now I stick closer to the mid-Island area.”

Describing his role in Make-A-Wish, he says he does “just about anything they ask me to do.” Except, apparently, he’s decided not to run the new Island office in Victoria. Bill has learned his lesson: take life a little easier or regret it later. He loves the Comox area where he now lives. Today, he does around eight interviews a year; travelling and co-ordinating wishes can take a lot of time. However, he also volunteers as a driver for the Masonic Order’s Cancer Cars program, works with the Shriners raising money for kids who need orthopedic surgery, takes part in Comox Valley Classic Cruisers activities with his yellow 1973 mustang convertible, and plays golf as well.

Kim Heron of Make-A-Wish B.C. & Yukon says, “Bill is the human face of Make-A-Wish on Vancouver Island. He builds direct relationships with our families. A former Wish dad now helps make wishes come true for others. Bill truly has walked in their shoes and is invaluable to our organization, not only for his dedication and hard work, but also for his insight and perspective.”

Bill recounts both fascinating and heart-wrenching stories of children whose wishes came true, from a boy who watched a remote control airplane fly in the parking lot of the hospital, to a girl who went to New York to see real Broadway theatre productions and got a surprise visit backstage.

Clearly, every child’s wish is important to Bill. “I get the opportunity to give families a special time together. I can create memories for that family. I love it! I get so much fulfillment out of this.”

NOVEMBER 2011 SENIOR LIVING MAGAZINE VANCOUVER ISLAND