If you were given just one wish, what would it be? Would it be for yourself or for others? Would you choose something that made the world a little bit better, happier, and sillier?  For five-year-old Florence, her wish did just that.

When Florence faced a challenging battle with brain cancer at the age of 3, she was comforted by revisiting her favorite places and people, if only in her imagination. Once she beat the cancer, she was granted a wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles. Instead of choosing something for herself alone, she imagined a wish that could bring one of her favorite places to the friends who were most important to her – her classmates at Crescenta Cañada Cooperative Nursery School (CCNS). Florence wanted to transform her school’s playground into a silly farm stand, a version of the Muddy Boot Farm at Kidspace Children’s Museum, which she adored.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation collaborated with Kidspace to bring Flo’s vision to life. After meeting with the school to learn more about the possibilities in their space, the Kidspace team crafted sketches of what would become Flo’s Farm—a miniature farmstand filled with the playful interactive features Flo loves about Muddy Boot Farm.

Flo’s dad, Rich, who runs Roam Design + Builders, was of course eager to help. His construction company turned the drawings into plans and began the building process.

The project received an incredible outpouring of community support. Rich’s team, nursery school parents, and Kidspace staff volunteered on weekends and evenings to make Flo’s Farm a reality. The team renovated an outdated playhouse into a miniature barn, built a delightful farm stand, designed a playful egg chute, and created gardening beds to harvest a bumper crop of pretend vegetables.

The grand opening of Flo’s Farm at CCNS in April was a big day on the farm. The entire school community cheered as Flo cut the ribbon, and then, just as she had imagined, they all began to play.

In a small but lovely way, Florence’s choice affirms something essential about the nature of joy. Joy isn’t diminished by sharing it with others; that’s how it grows into something even more beautiful. When Florence made her very special wish, she planted the seeds for a happy space for children to learn and play for many years to come.

In the end, Flo’s Farm is more than a new play space; it is a powerful demonstration of how one small act of selflessness can blossom into something that touches the lives of many.