Make-A-Wish grants De Pere boy’s wish to be a “worker man” for the day

DE PERE, Wis. (WBAY) -The coronavirus pandemic has forced the Make-A-Wish Foundation to postpone travel wishes, but that hasn’t stopped the organization from making dreams come true for kids living with critical illnesses. In fact, Friday wish day for one De Pere boy.

Construction equipment is nothing new to five year old Dominic Filippini. The De Pere boy is pretty much obsessed with the profession.

"We'd always drive past construction sites, we'd have to stop and look at everything. I would say 90% of all of his toys are some sort of construction toy. And he's always dreamed to be a worker man," says Dominic's mom, Julianne Cox.

Tthanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Miron Construction, Filippini's wish of becoming a "worker man" came true.

According to Kris Teofilo with Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, "It was so great to start the day with a procession. The De Pere Fire Department and Police Department came out in force and led us from Dominic's house in the big Miron truck here and he just has a lot of things, a lot of work to do today with the guys."

Diagnosed with a severe form of epilepsy, Filippini buried those health issues today, as he helped the Miron crew build the future West De Pere Intermediate School. He moved some dirt, operated heavy machinery, and fulfilled his dream. His mom says, "It means everything to him. He gets to experience so much that he normally wouldn't."

His presence and work ethic is inspiring to the crew.

Joel Stave is the Miron Construction project manager for the school build. He says, "For Dominic, he could go to Disney World or he could go to a Packer game or whatever and he wanted to come out here and set steel and pour concrete with us, so it's really cool to have this opportunity and just make the most of the day that we've got with him."

With his mind on his jobs, his mom says, "The only reason he's not talking a lot because he is so focused on working right now."

Filippini expressed his excitement, honking every horn he could, knowing a kid from the east side of De Pere is leaving his mark on the other side of town.

His mom adds, “I would guess every time we go to Menards or Walmart we will be driving past this site, even when it’s built because he’s going to remember this forever.”

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