SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - Olivia Chan loved unicorns. She loved life and enjoyed interacting with other children. She would have loved visiting The Olivia Chan Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by her parents, Reina and Mel, along with their family, to create a safe environment where children and families feel supported and understood while navigating grief. 

Olivia Chan Foundation’s T-shirts have Olivia’s memorable quote: “I wish I was a grownup, and I wish I was a unicorn.” If she was here now, she would be “Wishing for a House with Three Unicorns.”

Reina explained, “After discovering the Dougy Center, Mel and I flew to Portland, Oregon, to receive training. They’re an amazing organization and have been a tremendous source of support for us.”

Reina and Mel’s goal is to bring the Dougy Center model to Sacramento by training team members and volunteers in its peer-support approach.

The Dougy Center, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, offers support groups and services for grieving children, teens, young adults and their families. Its peer-support model was the first program of its kind in the United States. Today, the organization serves approximately 400 children and 250 adults from the Portland metropolitan area each month, free of charge.

Founded in 1982 in memory of Dougy Turno, who died of a brain tumor at age 13, the center has supported more than 20,000 children and family members. The original facility was a large historic home known as the Dougy House. After it was destroyed by fire, a new building was constructed specifically for the organization’s needs, with individual rooms designed to support grieving children in different age groups.

The Olivia Chan Foundation also hopes to establish its own grief center. Mel said it would be “a physical place that children and families can visit, where we can implement all these programs free of charge for the community.”  

Between Sacramento and Portland, there are three prominent unicorns.  Those three unicorns represent three different stories of love, memory and healing.

The foundation’s official mascot is a unicorn, inspired by Olivia’s favorite unicorn, Lucky, which is featured on the front of the foundation’s T-shirts. 

About 90 miles south of the Dougy Center, in the town of Albany, is a marvelous place that captures the spirit, imagination and vitality Olivia possessed: the Albany Historic Carousel & Museum on First Avenue West.

The museum was fortunate to receive a donated 1909 Dentzel Carousel Company mechanism. The original plan had been to purchase a new mechanism capable of holding 32 animals.

However, Bill Dentzel, the great-grandson of Gustav Dentzel, founder of the Dentzel Carousel Company, learned of the project and arranged for the antique mechanism to be donated.

The Albany Carousel owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to both Bill Dentzel and the National Carousel Association, which owned the mechanism before donating it through Dentzel.

Restoring the classic mechanism took more than 10 years. Every wooden gear tooth, every mirror panel and every motor that powers the carousel platform was meticulously restored. Lead engineer Carl Baker and a dedicated crew of volunteers transformed what once looked like, “Oh my word, what have we gotten ourselves into?” into the magnificent carousel visitors enjoy today.

When completed, the carousel will feature 52 hand-carved animals. As a menagerie-style carousel, it includes an extraordinary variety of figures, from a seven-foot-tall giraffe to dogs, cats, zebras, dragons and yes, even lions, tigers and bears.

The animals are arranged in three rows. The outside row features large standing animals, while the middle and inside rows feature medium-size and smaller “jumping” animals. The carousel will also include two replacement animals for each row, along with five seasonal animals, bringing the total collection to 63.

Among those animals are two beautiful unicorns: creatures Olivia undoubtedly would have treasured.

This spring, a new carousel figure, Kitty the Unicorn, joined the Albany Historic Carousel and Museum after more than 14 years of volunteer craftsmanship and a heartfelt family tribute.

The traditional European-style unicorn was created in memory of Katherine “Kitty” (Wright) Doherty, who died in March 2007 after an 11-year battle with cancer. Known for her love of animals, Kitty inspired her family to sponsor a carousel figure in her honor, ensuring that her memory would live on in a place dedicated to joy, imagination and community.

The idea for the memorial began when Kitty’s mother visited the carousel workshop and was captivated by the hand-carved animals being created by volunteers. She suggested sponsoring a unicorn to honor her daughter. The family agreed it would be a meaningful use of the money they had originally collected to send Kitty, her husband, and their two daughters on a Disneyland vacation planned for June 2008.

A small group of dedicated volunteer carvers spent years in the carousel’s basement workshop carefully shaping the unicorn by hand. Along the way, they incorporated numerous personal touches celebrating Kitty’s life and the people who loved her.

Kitty the Unicorn officially joined the carousel on March 28, 2026. Before taking its place among the carousel’s other hand-carved figures, the unicorn received three protective clear coats applied over the course of a week to preserve its vibrant finish for generations to come.

Like all of the carousel’s animals, Kitty was finished using a stipple-painting technique, in which paint is carefully dabbed onto the surface with cloth rather than brushed on. The painstaking process creates the soft texture and brilliant colors that have become a hallmark of the carousel’s figures.

During the finishing work, Kitty’s intricately braided mane and detailed carvings were already drawing admiration from visitors and volunteers alike.

Kitty’s favorite color, purple, is reflected in the unicorn’s richly decorated saddle, which features 10 symbolic medallions carved by her stepmother, Marge Wright. Each medallion represents a member of Kitty’s family or an important part of her life: a four-leaf clover commemorates her St. Patrick’s Day birthday; a fish honors her father, Ed Wright; a heart represents her mother, Judy Allen; a fairy was chosen by her sister, Mary Jo Brock; an anchor symbolizes her foster brother, Larry Jackson; a dragon was selected by her husband, Kelly Doherty; a lucky horseshoe was chosen by her older daughter, Ashley Hogan; and an everlasting rose by her younger daughter, Alysia Rodgers.

The remaining medallions feature a pink breast cancer awareness ribbon and a teddy bear.

Adding another deeply personal touch, Kitty’s beloved cat, Exotica, is perched on the unicorn’s hindquarters, ensuring that one of her favorite companions will forever accompany her on the carousel.

After more than a decade of dedication by volunteer artisans and the loving support of her family, Kitty the Unicorn stands as both a remarkable work of craftsmanship and a lasting tribute to a woman whose love of animals continues to bring smiles to children and adults alike.

The second beautiful unicorn in Albany that Olivia undoubtedly would have treasured was Marcy.

On page 115 of Jennifer Moody’s book “The Miracle on First Avenue” is the following story about Marcy:

In a moment of harmonious happenstance, the very first person to ride Marcy the Unicorn was sixteen-year-old Hayden Mickelberry, the niece of Marcella, the young woman for whom Marcy was named. Bill and Nancy Mickelberry adopted the unicorn in memory of their daughter, Marcella, whom they lost at age sixteen. The graceful fairytale creature is a tribute to the love shared by everyone in the family.

Active in the Greater Albany Rotary Club, Bill heard about the carousel project and was among the first people to get involved – eventually becoming a carver there. He and Nancy adopted the unicorn as a 50th wedding anniversary gift to each other. Bill helped carve Marcy, while Nancy painted the carousel adornments.

Riders who choose a magical trip on Marcy as she bounds around the middle row will see Marcella represented as a blue-winged fairy in a blue dress flying alongside Marcy’s neck. She holds a red rose and ribbons printed with the name Marcy. The roses the family likes to grow crown Marcy’s head and decorate the base of her tail.

The family’s United Kingdom background is represented in the pattern on the saddle. The names of the Mickelberry children and grandchildren can be found along the edge of the blanket and on gold medallions hanging from it.

Bill and Nancy honored their golden anniversary with a large medallion around Marcy’s neck marked with “W” and “N” for William and Nancy and “50” to celebrate their marriage.

 On the crest are captain’s wings honoring Bill’s service in the Navy and a treble clef honoring Nancy’s participation in the Sweet Adelines singing group.

Reina and Mel’s dream is to build an Olivia Chan House in Sacramento to expand the work of the Dougy Center. Olivia would be extremely proud that her family is “creating a safe environment where children and families feel supported and understood while navigating grief.”

Olivia had a favorite unicorn named Lucky, who is depicted in the foundation’s symbol. Reina and Mel need the community’s support to make their dream of building an Olivia Chan House in Sacramento a reality.

Olivia once said, “I wish I was an adult, and I wish I was a unicorn.” If Olivia had another wish, it would be that every child entering the Olivia Chan House would be greeted by pictures of three unicorns: Lucky, Kitty and Marcy.