This coming Sunday, July 26, we at Stichting Ambulance Wens will reflect on a special day. It will be exactly five years since our founder, Kees Veldboer Sr., passed away unexpectedly. For us, that is more than just a date.
It is a moment when we think back to the man who, together with Ineke Veldboer, started at the kitchen table in 2007 with an idea that has changed the lives of thousands of patients and their families: an ambulance that does not respond to save a life, but to allow someone who will not recover to experience one last wish.
Almost 10.000 last wishes in five years
A lot has happened in the five years since Kees's passing. Nearly 10.000 last wishes have been fulfilled. This brings the total since the founding to nearly 26.000 wishes.
The foundation grew from seven to ten wish ambulances, over 350 volunteers dedicate themselves selflessly day and night, and earlier this year we marked the 25.000th fulfilled wish together with King Willem-Alexander.
But ultimately, numbers never tell the whole story.
Dad, I'm going to make you proud
In a personal interview with De Havenloods, director Kees Veldboer Jr. looks back extensively on the past five years for the first time. On the loss of his father, the responsibility he suddenly received, and the promise he made during the funeral:
“Dad, I’m going to make you proud.”
Five years later, he says about that:
I will never be able to ask him whether that succeeded. What I do know is that we have continued his work with hundreds of people. That since his passing, nearly 10.000 patients in the Netherlands have been able to fulfill a final wish. And that we will do everything we can to make the next 10.000 possible as well.
A worldwide tribute
What perhaps touches us most this week is that Kees is not only being remembered in the Netherlands. Various wish ambulance organizations in 22 countries, inspired by the wish ambulance concept he devised, are also commemorating the man who inspired them in their own way this weekend. We could not really wish for a more beautiful tribute.
Yet we also know that Kees would probably have said only one thing:
Just do it.
And that is exactly what happens again on Sunday, and also in the days after.
While we reminisce together about the man who started the Ambulance Wish Foundation, our wish ambulances simply depart again to give patients and their loved ones one last cherished memory. Because ultimately, that is the most beautiful way to commemorate Kees.
Not by standing still. But by getting back in and ensuring that the next wish goes ahead.
Help make the next 100 wishes possible
Around this special moment, we are looking not only back but also forward. The costs of fulfilling a last wish have risen significantly in recent years, while every wish remains completely free of charge for patients and their families. That is why we have launched a special campaign to make the next 100 last wishes possible.
Would you like to know more about this or help us? Then visit our Support & Donate page.
Read the personal story of Kees Veldboer Jr.
Curious about the full personal story of Kees Veldboer Jr.? Then also read the interview that appeared in De Havenloods this week:
Five years after the passing of Kees Veldboer, his son and the Ambulance Wish Foundation take stock.
On behalf of the Veldboer family, co-founder Ineke Veldboer, our volunteers, staff, wish planners, the board, and everyone who has held Stichting Ambulance Wens dear for many years:
Thank you for your trust. Thanks to you, we can continue doing every day what we started at the kitchen table almost twenty years ago.