Robbie Robinson Discusses His Wish Project Foundation

Robbie Robinson is a contemporary Christian recording artist whose mission goes beyond glorifying God through his music. When he wasn’t recording music in Nashville, Robbie volunteered his time to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. While doing so he discovered an unserved population of children in need of support. I recently talked with Robbie by telephone and he told me how his Wish Project Foundation got started.

You know, I volunteered with Make-A-Wish when I lived in Nashville and I got to grant incredible wishes for kids who’ve had life altering illnesses. I really have worked with kids who’ve been through life-altering tragedies, you know, whether it’s been through massive abuse. One little boy witnessed his father shoot his mother and then turn the gun on himself and the father shot himself and the boy was six-years old when he witnessed this.  And these kids go through post-traumatic stress syndrome and stuff like that, and I couldn’t help but think as I was in Nashville, working with the Make-A-Wish folks, how awesome it would be if there was an organization that could grant wishes for kids like this. So we started working, getting the Wish Project Foundation started. And the response is great.  Though, there’s so many people that know a child who has been through the worst of the worst. And they’re trying to come out of it now. And these wishes, when we grant these wishes, it’s amazing to see the turnaround in some of these kids.  Right now, we’re meeting the ones that have been through some of the worst tragedies. It’s kind of nice because they’re actually getting to network with each other and kind of building a team amongst themselves.

Can you tell us about one or two of the wishes that have come from some of these children and how they’ve been fulfilled?

Oh, yeah. The first wish we granted was a special needs child. They lived in extreme poverty. His mom was at home dying of stage four cancer and his father died when he was very young. And this child would come to school every day, and they’d have to take time just for him to go and sit and cry because he was breaking down.  And this child really had nothing. He didn’t even have a TV in his home where he lives so he’d get home and watch his mom deteriorate every day.  That’s all he really had to do. So when we met Aaron, we took him out to eat and kind of tried to get an idea of what his wishes would be and he had no idea what to ask for because this child never asked for anything in his life. So I started giving him ideas and told him he would get $2,000 to buy whatever he wanted to buy. First place he just wanted to go was GameStop and he bought games and we come out and he looked at me and I said, “Now, you don’t have a TV, do you?”   He said, “No.”  I said, “How you gonna play these games?”  Then he got this look of disappointment on his face. And he said, “Will they let us give these back?”  And I said “No, but I tell you what, buddy.  There’s a Walmart right there and they sell TVs,” and he perked up because “I can get a TV?” And so he ended up getting a TV and games and of course we took him to some clothing stores where he got to buy shoes and stuff.   I’ve never seen a 12-year old so excited about being able to buy a new pair of shoes. Well, that was really a great day. We ended up finishing the day off at a Japanese restaurant and had an incredible cook that entertained him the entire night. It was really, that was the first wish that we granted and it was probably one of the more magical ones because this is a kid that had nothing and you would think that he just won all the money in the world.

Have you had a chance to see Aaron since then?

I saw him a little while after that.  His mother passed away not long after the wish was granted. And he ended up moving with his sister. He had just, she took him in in Atlanta. He was doing well down there. He asked us if he can be a wish granter when he gets older and help us grant wishes for kids like him. So we’re hoping that as we grant these wishes that all these kids will grow up to be wish granters, because who can relate better to the kids that have been through this stuff than them.

Robbie plans to visit Allegheny Mountain Radio next Tuesday, December 10. And we’ll talk some more just after the eight o’clock news break. Robbie has another remarkable story to tell. This time about the event that got him started recording his music in Nashville. It’s a gripping story, so make sure you tune in.

This is Mickey Frank Thomas for Allegheny Mountain Radio.