Poetry helps Make-A-Wish dreams come true

When Max Garcia was 2 years old, doctors discovered a tumor in one of his eyes and diagnosed him with retinoblastoma, a rare childhood cancer. During his chemotherapy, he was granted a wish: to meet his favorite character, Elmo.

Now 6, Max stood beside his mother, Suzzette Garcia, on Sunday, Aug. 9, at the Make-A-Wish Hudson Valley Wish House in Tarrytown as she recalled how that wish gave their family a much-needed break from the fear and uncertainty of his treatment. Most of those gathered were poets and their friends who were to there to recite work from “Poems for a Wish,” an anthology benefiting Make-A-Wish Hudson Valley.