A Return to the Place That Gave So Much: Our Legacy Trip to Give Kids The World

By Logan Peterson and Kianna Thelen, MS III (2025 Trip)

University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine

Some trips change you. For us, the Legacy Trip wasn’t just a volunteer week—it was a homecoming, a reconnection, and a chance to give back to a place that gave so much.

We went to Give Kids The World together, but for one of us, it wasn’t the first time.

Logan first visited the Village at age six as a Make-A-Wish kid. Diagnosed with leukemia at two years old, he doesn’t remember all the treatments, the hospital rooms, or the hard moments. But he remembers Give Kids The World with astonishing clarity—JJ’s train, Dino putt-putt, Amberville, the cookie cart, and most of all, the day his mom and aunt got to just breathe, to relax like they hadn’t in years.

That week made him feel normal. It gave his whole family a break from the weight of illness and replaced it with joy, laughter, and a sense of magic.

Now, at 27, Logan walked those same paths again—not as a child in treatment, but as a volunteer returning to the place that once offered him light during his darkest days. The buildings were a little smaller than he remembered, but the feeling? It hadn’t changed a bit.

Seeing Logan step back into that world was deeply emotional. We stood together in the Castle of Miracles and found his star—the very one he made as a child. He had no idea if it would still be there. But there it was, shining among thousands of others. In that moment, something shifted. That little star brought back not just memories, but faces, friendships, and feelings he hadn’t revisited in years.

Some of the kids he knew from camp and treatment are no longer here. Yet in that room, surrounded by stars, it felt like they were. A quiet reunion through time and shared experience.

What made this trip even more meaningful was sharing it with medical students from the University of South Dakota, where Kianna is a third-year student. For most of them, this was their first time seeing Give Kids The World. For Logan, it was a second chapter. He could offer something no one else could: the perspective of someone who had lived it.

He reminded us that this isn’t a sad place—it’s full of life. Not every child who visits is terminal, and the best thing we can do is treat them like kids, not patients. Let them laugh. Be silly. Eat ice cream for breakfast. Because what they need most is normalcy.

And for Kianna, watching Logan walk through the Village was unlike anything else. For years, she had heard his stories about that trip—how it brought him joy, how he carried it with him. But being there with him, seeing the way he lit up as he recognized the spaces he had loved as a child, brought those memories to life in a new, tangible way. It was the first time he really opened up about how much that place meant to him—not just with words, but with emotion.

This trip gave us a moment we’ll never forget. It was a reminder that kindness ripples outward. That a single week, decades ago, still lives on in Logan. And now, through The Legacy Trip, that experience can continue to shape future medical providers—teaching them that joy, empathy, and play are just as vital as prescriptions and procedures.

We’re so grateful to the Legacy Foundation for making this possible. Their work—through The Legacy Trip, Owen’s Outfitters, and more—doesn’t just bridge gaps in healthcare. It creates space for healing, for understanding, and for lasting impact. It honors kids like Owen and lifts up stories like Logan’s.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your donation makes a difference, we’re here to say: it does. Because of The Legacy Foundation, a Wish Kid got to come home. And two hearts, one old and one new to the Village, left fuller than we ever imagined.

Thank you for helping us return to where it all began. We hope this legacy continues—because the stars on that ceiling still have so many stories left to tell.