A picture of the crowd at the Wine For Wishes event on Saturday, April 11, at Bretz Wildlife Lodge and Winery in Carlyle. Photo by Matt Wilson A nice crowd of 131 people attended the first Wine For Wishes event hosted by the Metro East Council for Make-A-Wish Foundation on Saturday, April 11 at Bretz Wildlife Lodge and Winery in Carlyle.
The event raised enough money to grant two wishes.
The Metro East Council had previously done a hot chocolate walk in Highland as their fundraiser, but this year decided to do a Wine For Wishes event.
Laurie Lampen and daughter Ali Kampwerth came up with the idea for the Wine for Wishes event.
The Metro East Council of the Make-A-Wish Foundation covers Clinton, Madison and St. Clair counties.
The event went from 2 to 6 p.m. There were wine and beer tastings, live music from RX Blues Band, a silent auction, appetizers and raffles.
Eli Kohrmann speaks during the Wine For Wishes event on Saturday, April 11, at Bretz Wildlife Lodge and Winery in Carlyle. Photo by Matt Wilson Among the silent auction items were four tickets to a major league baseball game, tickets to the Fox Theater, a group wine party for 20 people, and a golf trail that will include rounds of golf at Governor's Run in Carlyle, Oak Brook in Edwardsville and Highland Country Club.
Eli Kohrmann was one of the keynote speakers at the event. Kohrmann, who was a Make-A-Wish recipient, was introduced by Alexis Nolan from the Metro East Council of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
"Eli's story is a powerful example of the impact the organization can have," Nolan said.
Nolan worked on the first half of Kohrmann's wish.
Kohrmann is a 19-year-old Germantown resident who coaches eighth-grade boys' basketball at All Saints Academy, helps out with Mater Dei basketball, and is an ambassador for Breese Chamber of Commerce. He attends Kaskaskia College and plans to transfer to McKendree University next fall. He is a realtor with Equity Reality Group.
Kohrmann was born with hypoplastic right heart syndrome. The right side of his heart didn't fully develop so it was smaller and weaker than it should have been.
Because of that, he couldn't properly pump blood to his lungs, which caused low oxygen in his body.
He was born in Clayton, Missouri, and was immediately transferred to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, where he spent the first week of his life.
Kohrmann has had two open heart surgeries, one when he was 9 months old and another right before he was 3 years old.
"While I don't remember those moments, my family does and so do all of the people who supported me during that time," Kohrmann said.
While he was growing up, doctors always told Kohrmann that he looked good for a kid with his condition. One expression that always stuck with him was that he was the cover page of a magazine for a kid with his condition.
Kohrmann has been involved with Camp Rhythm for 14 years. The camp, located in Eureka, Missouri, is for kids with heart conditions. He started as a camper and now volunteers his time as a counselor.
"When you are there, you are surrounded by people who understand what you have gone through without even having to explain it," Kohrmann said. "You are not the kid who is just a little different, you are just like everyone else."
The camp is where he started hearing about Make-A-Wish. At first, Kohrmann was nervous about asking his cardiologist about Make-A-Wish because he didn't want to feel like he was taking advantage of something. He finally asked his cardiologist and he said "Of course you can."
When it came time for his wish, Kohrmann had a few options. He could travel somewhere, meet someone, or do something. At first, he wanted a Corvette since he worked at Jansen Chevrolet. His mom shot that idea down.
He wanted to do something that connected with him — business, entrepreneurship and sports. He thought Mark Cuban would be the perfect fit. Cuban owned the Dallas Mavericks and was on the show "Shark Tank."
He submitted his application and then he waited. It took about a year and a half before they heard anything. One day, his mom got a call asking if they could go to Dallas the next week to meet Cuban and make Kohrmann's wish come true.
"We cleared everything off the schedule, and just like that, it was real," Kohrmann said.
On the first day, they visited the Mavericks practice facility, they received a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility and its operations. They got to see the offices of Dirk Nowitski and Cuban, talk with the assistant general manager, and they found one of Klay Thompson's headbands sitting in a chair in the film room and Kohrmann was told "just take that."
The Mavericks staff recommended that if the Kohrmanns wanted a good meal, to go to Nick and Sam's Steakhouse in Dallas. They found out later that the Mavericks' staff called ahead and said they were coming in for dinner and picked up the tab.
The next day, they went to American Airlines Center, received a tour, and sat courtside during warm-ups. Some of the players signed a basketball and took pictures with Kohrmann. Kohrmann threw a ball up to Daniel Gafford, who went up and dunked the basketball.
About 45 minutes before the game, Cuban walked over and they sat down and started talking. Within the first minute and a half, Cuban stopped Kohr-mann mid sentence and made a comment about how good his voice sounded. Cuban said Kohrmann should turn that into a business idea and start emceeing events.
"From there on, he called me Elijah 'The Voice' Kohrmann," Kohrmann said.
They talked about business and how he sold the Mavericks, and Cuban said it might not have been the best decision on his part. Cuban also gave Kohrmann a good stock market tip.
"Those 30 minutes I got to talk to Mark Cuban were the fastest 30 minutes of my life," Kohrmann said. "What stuck with me the most wasn't just what we talked about, it was how I felt. After that trip, I came back more confident, more motivated and more grateful."
Kohrmann said that is what Make-A-Wish does. It is not just about the trip, it's not just about meeting someone famous, it's about giving someone a moment where everything else fades away. It's about showing people that what they have gone through doesn't define them.
"That experience had a real impact on my life," Kohrmann said. "There are kids out there right now waiting for that same opportunity. If there is one thing I want you to take away from today, it's that Make-A-Wish isn't just granting a wish, it's changing someone's life."
Head of Metro East Council Sue Messerli said they plan on having the Wine For Wishes event again next year.
Platinum sponsor for the event was Kloss Furniture; gold star sponsors were Bradford Bank, Breese Journal and Publishing Company, Imming Insurance Agency, Luebbers Welding and Manufacturing, Meredith Wealth Planning, Scott Credit Union and The Korte Company; star sponsor was Becker Jewelers. Eaton Corporation was a $5,000 corporate donor.
