Behind The Wish: Carolyn
Carolyn Baird has received a medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community. Over decades she has given to children and families in need.
Our own Wonder Woman with a 'radiant smile'
Make-A-Wish volunteer Carolyn Baird has dressed up as Wonder Woman to put smiles on the faces of sick kids.
But those who know her well suspect she might be the real thing.
They describe her as the ultimate problem solver, the empathetic listener and someone who goes above and beyond.
“Carolyn treats every wish as the most important one, creating bespoke experiences that leave lasting memories,” fellow Perth volunteer Monique le Roux said.
“Her radiant smile, boundless energy, and unwavering dedication to achieving the very best outcomes inspire everyone around her.”
Late brother shapes Carolyn
A hairdresser for the first part of her working life, Carolyn put the scissors down and a new career in floristry blossomed.
She had her own florist, then started her own jewellery design company for 10 years.
The one constant has been Carolyn’s desire to help others. This had its origins as a child when Carolyn watched her older brother Brad’s battle with a brain tumour.
He passed away at age 15, when Carolyn was 13.
“Back in those days, in the 80s, they didn't have the knowledge of brain cancers like they do now,” Carolyn said.
“And he lived for less than a year.
“My brother would have to be number one in terms of people that shaped who I am today.
“I think you can either go one way or the other when something like that happens to you.
“And I chose to give back and help the families and the siblings of sick children.”
Medal makes mum and dad smile
Carolyn said another motivator in deciding to help sick children was to make her parents proud.
“I think I did it for my mum and dad, to help their pain of losing my brother,” she said.
“I gave back and to see the joy on their faces was fulfilling for myself.”
Decades later, in 2018, Carolyn gave her parents another reason to be proud when she received a medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community.
“I was so incredibly honoured. I just couldn’t believe that little old me had been chosen for such an incredible honour,” Carolyn said.
“My mum, dad, brother and my son were there, and I was on the stage getting this medal pinned on me and you think to yourself ‘Oh God, this is real’.
“It was beautiful to look over and see my mum and dad just so very proud.
“Honestly it still takes my breath away that the award even happened.”
A lifetime of charity
Carolyn has given one day a week – sometimes more - of her whole life to helping others.
Her first volunteer role was for Riding For The Disabled which Carolyn said was ironic because “I’m petrified of horses”.
Next, she would walk into a dementia ward one day a week, sometimes to play a musical instrument or other times to read poetry or just sit and chat.
From about 2012 Carolyn sensed she could help families and children at the former Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth.
“At the time there wasn't a lot of charities that were putting their energy into the things that the parents were asking me for, like toothpaste and toothbrushes,” Carolyn said.
“Just little things to make them feel seen.”
Carolyn also arranged Christmas decorations for the hospital’s oncology award, and toys to help distract children undergoing treatment.
She also, with help from the Men’s Shed and some elderly ladies adept at crochet, would present ‘memory boxes’ to parents when their child passed away.
“When a child passes, these boxes are taken to the room, so the parents have something to put the child’s treasures in,” Carolyn said.
To help gain momentum for the work she was doing in the hospital, Carolyn started her own charity: Carolyn In The Community.
The charity was run through a Facebook page, and members of the group would answer specific callouts for items Carolyn needed for the hospital.
Picture: Carolyn with Men's Shed memory boxes.
Just little things to make them feel seen
Carolyn, volunteer
Carolyn lends a hand on wishes
Through her contribution to the children’s hospital, Make-A-Wish volunteer Monique knew of Carolyn and her skillset.
Monique invited to Carolyn to help on wishes.
“If Monique had a wish coming up and she had to do some kind of anticipation activity she would take me out for a drink and say ‘OK I have got this wish coming up, what should I do?”
For about three years Carolyn was involved as a helper, usually insisting they go “bigger than Ben Hur” for an anticipation event.
Eventually Monique’s coaxing paid off, and Carolyn joined Make-A-Wish in 2018.
Picture: Carolyn (far right) and Monique (middle, dressed as Wonder Woman).
Carolyn's passion for fundraising
A President of the Perth North Branch for three and a half years, Carolyn has immersed herself in both wishes and fundraising.
She has been instrumental in raising over $200,000 for Make-A-Wish. The Ford Farm car museum have been big contributors, opening their doors to the public once a month and charging adults $20 to enter: money which goes to Make-A-Wish.
Carolyn has also used her contacts at the Perth Dinghy Sailing Club to raise money for Make-A-Wish.
“I have a lot of good people around me, and they know what I raise is always going to a good place, in this case to granting wishes,” she said.
In October 2025, Carolyn was awarded an Inspire Award (for Innovation) by Make-A-Wish.
The Make-A-Wish volunteers went to her funeral and her mum said she talked about the impact the wish had on her in her last days
Carolyn, volunteer
Maximum effort for all wishes
Carolyn puts the same energy into every single wish.
“All of them are really, really important to me,” she said.
However, there are some wishes that her mind keeps coming back to.
There’s the little Perth boy who was too sick to travel interstate to see snow.
So, they transformed one of Perth’s biggest parks into a winter wonderland.
“Nobody wanted to leave. It was just too emotional,” Carolyn remembered.
Another wish involved a girl who wanted to meet a real ballerina.
“It was an urgent wish, and it was supposed to be on the Saturday but Make-A-Wish head office called me and said ‘I don’t think she’s going to make it to the weekend so can you pull it together for tomorrow?’ and I said ‘Absolutely I can’,” Carolyn recalled.
Carolyn called on her community of helpers and the Wish went ahead.
Every day post-wish Carolyn would visit the girl to see how she was doing.
One day she asked the girl what she could do for her to make her really happy and the response was “I’d like to hold a baby bunny”.
Carolyn enlisted the help of Perth’s bunny community and every day brought a different bunny to meet the girl.
“The Make-A-Wish volunteers went to her funeral and her mum said she talked about the impact the wish had on her in her last days,” Carolyn said.
“That was very moving to know how much of an impact we made, not just for her, but for her brother and her mum and her dad as well.”
Carolyn finds fulfillment at Make-A-Wish
Carolyn feels proud every time she pulls on the blue Make-A-Wish shirt for a wish or an event.
“I haven't found any other charity that fulfills me as much as Make-A-Wish. So I'm not going anywhere, you know?,” she said.
“When you wear that shirt the amount of people that seek you out in the big wide world is incredible.
“If you like pop in to grab some dinner on the way home after a wish or whatever, people will come up and go, ‘Oh, we got a wish or I know somebody who got a wish’.
“I love hearing all those stories. I love that so much. It's fantastic to know how much of an impact that we make.”
And for Carolyn, finding time for Make-A-Wish in her busy life won’t ever be a problem.
“I think you know you might be the reason that that child smiles for the last time or the parents will have a joyous memory to hold onto,” she said.
“So how do you not answer the call from Make-A-Wish?”
