Josie's Gift was created in 2016, at the time I was working at the children's hospital in Madison Wisconsin. I met a young girl that was an inspiration to everyone she met. She was 7 years old when we met. Josie was fighting cancer and she was fighting it to the best of her ability, but what stood out to me was the fact that she was more concerned about the other children than herself. She could be having a horrible day and she would see another child crying or upset and Josie would go out of her way to go comfort them. It didn’t matter if she knew them or not, she would just go up to them and start talking to them and ask what was wrong. When other parents would talk to Josie’s mother, they would be shocked that Josie was so out going with the other children and families even with all she was going through. If one of the kids had to go through a procedure and were scared they would ask if Josie had been through it and ask if she could come in and talk with her before they had to go through it. She never missed an opportunity to play Nurse Josie. She had a way with the kids and after talking with them they were ready to go and when they would come back to their room they would always make the staff go by Josie’s room so they could wave and give her a thumbs up. To this day we still don’t know what she would tell the other children but we were all thankful she was there for them.

Josie was the first child to receive a rod from us. She loved her rod and before her mother could take her home that day she had to take her new rod and show it off to all the kids and staff. The next time she came back she gave me a thank you card that meant the world to me. I still have that card and keep it in a special wooden box. I pull it out any time that I'm feeling down and need a-pick me up, and it works every time. Every time I look at it I can hear her voice and I get a smile and a tear. I was truly blessed that our paths crossed in life. She changed my outlook on life.

For Christmas that year I had an idea of having Josie give her family members each a rod from her. I made a post on the Custom Rod Builders Guild facebook page about my idea and I was overwhelmed with the response I received. We needed 8 rods and within 45 minutes of my post I had over 20 members contact me and told me it was a great idea and they would love to build and donate a rod. I was shocked and amazed with the generosity of this great community. I would go up and visit with Josie and her mother after work and we sat down and designed a rod for each of them. Josie loved the fact that she had a secret that she kept from all of them. After receiving all the rods we went to Josie’s house to present the rods. She had them all meet in the family room and had them each pick a number then she gave each one of the a rod from her. This was truly an amazing day.

Before Josie passed in 2017 she told me “it would be neat if I could help other kids like I helped her.” I told her I would talk to my wife and let her know. The next day I told her we could help other kids under one condition and that was if we could call it Josie’s Gift. Her response was “ I think we can do that.” To date we have given out over 80 rods to children. Each rod we sit down and design with the child. I would guess that 90% of them have been cancer patients. To be able to sit down with a kid and design a rod with them and take their mind off of what they have to deal with on a daily basis and see them smile is an amazing feeling. I have been blessed to have help from other builders that have built rods or have donated components. The rod building community is an awesome group of people!!!!

In 2020 we expanded Josie’s Gift and we started a kids fishing day each summer. The first year we had 3 kids and have grown each year. 2025 will be our 5th year and we are hosting 50 kids. The day will consist of a day on the water, prizes, goodie bags and a cook out for the kids and their families. We are planning on hosting over 200 people this year. Our event will be held on July 19 this year.

We will continue to grow as long as we continue to get the support we receive. In March of 2023 we officially became a 531c3 non-profit, this is huge for us and will hopefully open a lot of doors. Eventually I would like to have a network of builders across the U.S. so when we have a child in another state we can have a local rod builder build a rod and present it to that child. If anyone would like to donate to Josie’s Gift please reach out to us.

Daniel W. O’Kanes
Josie’s Gift/Uncle D’s Custom Rods
http://josiesgift.org/
EIN 92-2517522
josiesgift22@gmail.com
cell# 608-577-6764
home# 608-577-6764