One decade ago, Balfour Beatty Construction started building numerous additions to Give Kids the World (GKTW) - a place where the wishes of children with life threatening illnesses come true. Last month one of our very own employees and her family shared in the joy of this memorable and magical place. In July 2007, four-year-old Kyle Murray, son of Communications Coordinator Elizabeth Murray in Dallas, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Along his rough road of treatments, Kyle submitted a request to the Make A Wish Foundation to come to the theme parks in Orlando. His wish was granted and the entire family was greeted with a warm welcome at the GKTW House of Hearts on October 14, 2008. “My favorite part was when we went to the Star Wars ride and you fly… and the (S)piderman ride my favorite,” said Kyle of his trip. About his favorite part of GKTW, he said, “Us go to the place and us get ice cream for dinner!” Now who wouldn’t love that? When a little birdie in Dallas mentioned Kyle’s trip to someone in the Florida division, a number of people jumped into action to make the family’s welcome special and provide an experience like no other. When Elizabeth, her husband Chad, Kyle and his big brother Campbell arrived at their GKTW villa, they found Welcome to Florida gifts for everyone, including personalized Mickey hats, gift cards for memorabilia purchases, and BBC hard hats full of fun boy stuff. In addition to the full week of fun at GKTW, Walt Disney World and Universal (provided by the Make A Wish Foundation), a special contact of ours at one of the theme parks gave the Murray family a top secret back-of-house tour of the park. ”Very close to my heart is the involvement our company had with GKTW. Every step of the way in this journey of Kyle’s cancer, I have found Balfour Beatty Construction,” said Elizabeth. Florida employees who went above and beyond to make Kyle’s experience unforgettable are Mike Wood, Sean DeMartino, Cindy Garris, Kelly Jo Williamson and Matt Caldwell. Update: After nine rounds of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiation and several blood transfusions, Kyle’s “post-Orlando trip” MRI results showed no recurrence of the cancer!