Jun. 4—Surrounded by his family, Robert Galindo was thrilled to be gifted with a Polaris RZR Tuesday at Odessa Family PowerSports.

Make-A-Wish serving Odessa announced a $10,000 donation from Odessa Family PowerSports to help fund wishes for local children with critical illnesses.

In addition to the contribution, Odessa Family PowerSports hosted a celebration for Galindo, a local wish child.

Galindo was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2019. He battled the disease during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with the hope of receiving a wish from Make-A-Wish. Now cancer-free, Robert enjoys riding bikes and playing video games with his friends.

His mother, Brandi, said Robert was 13 when he was diagnosed. He had chemotherapy for about a year and was in remission for about four months. The cancer came back. They went to Cook’s for treatment.

Now they do yearly follow-ups at Cooks and at Covenant in Lubbock. He has been cancer free for about two years.

When he made the wish, Robert, who just graduated from Permian High School, said he didn’t have a car. A “good amount” of his family lives on ranches, so the plan is to bring it to a his grandfather’s ranch so it will be available to everybody.

“I have close friends who like stuff like this,” Robert said.

He hasn’t driven one before, but he’s been in them. He said they feel quicker than a car. They move differently, they have different mechanics like four-wheel drive.

“I just like how they’re like cars. You do maintenance on them to take care of them. You take care of it, it will take care of you. I just like messing with motors and tinkering with stuff like this,” he added.

He said he’ll take his brothers and sisters out in the RZR.

Robert said he is grateful to have the wish granted. And he feels blessed

“I really appreciate it. I thank God that I’m still here breathing because I know other people have it way harder than I did,” Robert said.

He added that he was grateful to have everyone around him supporting him.

“It makes me feel like I have a good circle of people around me,” Robert said.

The RZR is a gas-powered side-by-side off-road vehicle. It has two seats. Odessa Family PowerSports General Manager Tanner Griffin said the vehicle sells for just over $15,000.

“Make-A-Wish is an incredible organization. We’re just happy that we get to be a small part of it when we get the opportunity to,” Griffin said.

They have fulfilled wishes before out of the Odessa store.

“One of the biggest things is we just want to be a good part of our community. It makes everybody feel great to be able to do something like this, but the people that do this all the time are the real people that deserve the praise. We’re just fortunate to step in and have the opportunity to do it from time to time,” Griffin said.

Alicia Menard, development manager for Make-A-Wish West Texas, said Odessa Family PowerSports has been an amazing partner to help these wishes come true.

Menard said they grant anywhere from 40 to 50 wishes a year to people 2 1/2 to 18 years old.

Robert’s wish first came in when he was 15.

“We have all sorts of wishes and we have so much support here in the Midland-Odessa community with granting our wishes. We’re very fortunate for all of our partners and donors and continued supporters over the years,” Menard said.

She added that anybody can refer a child for a wish and the request is thoroughly vetted.

“We grant wishes for all children that are battling critical illness, so they don’t have to be terminal and they don’t have to have cancer or something like that. It’s any critical illness qualifies them and they have to be from the age of 2 1/2 to 18 years,” Menard said.

Wish Granter Julie Garrett said her job is humbling because she has two healthy kids and two healthy grandkids.

“You just don’t know. You have no idea. You’re not promised anything. It is very, very humbling,” Garrett said.