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PALMER -- "Look how quiet it is," Luke Delia marvels as he raises and lowers his new mechanized hospital bed with an attached control. The bed hums industriously as it adjusts itself to Luke's command.

Luke, who is 13 years old, suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a genetic condition. This ailment, the most common genetic illness in existence today, causes poor muscular development, discomfort, and pain to its victims. Luke requires a motorized wheelchair to move about, and his doctor prescribed a mechanical hospital bed for him to sleep comfortably.

However, Misty VanderWeele, his mother, and Andrea Delia, his stepmother, share custody of Luke, and the family's insurance only paid for one of these beds at VanderWeele's house.

This meant that Luke had to toss and turn during his nights at the Delia's house.

"He used to come home complaining that he was sore and tired," recalls VanderWeele.

Relief for Luke came in the form of an award from the We Deliver Dreams Foundation, a charitable organization affiliated with The UPS Store that fulfills one-time, life-enhancing dreams for children who are victims of abuse, neglect, poverty, violence, and illness.

Stacy Stigar, the local store franchisee, organized an award application that resulted in a new motorized bed and a better night's sleep for Luke.

It was, in fact, Stigar who approached VanderWeele with a proposal to apply for the award. The idea struck her when VanderWeele brought Luke into the Palmer UPS Store one day. Notices had been springing up around the store soliciting applications for the Foundation, and Stigar simply put two and two together.

Luke received the bed roughly three months after his request, which is actually only about half the time it takes for him to receive some of his medication and equipment from out-of-state vendors.

The bed was provided by Geneva Woods Pharmacy in Palmer, which quoted the best price to Stigar.

Stigar said that Geneva Woods "went over and above to make this happen -- we called over three pharmacies comparing prices, and theirs was over $500 lower."

"I'm very proud to be part of this," said Tammy Parker with Geneva Woods. "Our heart is with the community, and we figured that if someone was trying to help Luke out in any way, we would want to be part of it."

Workers from Geneva Woods packaged up the bed, transported it to the Delias' home, and set it up for them. They also brought in a huge bunch of festive balloons and a basket of candy, toys and other goodies for Luke.

"This needs to be a memorable day for Luke," said Parker.

Collection boxes for the We Deliver Dreams Foundation can be found in individual UPS stores around the nation. According to Dwight Coppock, the local UPS Store franchise owner, the majority of the foundation's funding is derived from donations placed in these boxes.

The money is then collected in a central pool and doled out to individuals as awards are presented. The request for an award comes from a local UPS Store franchise, in this case the Palmer store at 1150 S. Colony Way.

Administrators evaluate how many awards, the budgets of which are drawn up by applicants, can be given with existing funds in any given year and makes decisions accordingly.

The We Deliver Dreams Foundation has granted over 80 dreams during its six years of operation, improving the lives of over 100 children across the United States.

The foundation has also delivered aid to disaster victims in Turkey, Venezuela, and San Giuliano di Puglia in Italy.

Luke's award was one of 10 in the nation this year, and the first to be awarded to an applicant from Alaska. For a dream request to be granted, it must be beyond the financial means of the applicants to achieve.

Anyone interested in submitting a dream request for a child can pick up a form at a local UPS store or visit the organization's Web site at http://www.mbe.com/wddf/index.html.

Luke himself was short of words during the celebration that his family held at the time of the bed's delivery, but his ear-to-ear grin spoke volumes in itself. Stigar agreed with the sentiment.

"His smile says it all," she said.

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.