GOWN THEFTS NOT END OF DREAMS.

Byline: BRAD A. GREENBERG Staff Writer

Fran Hansen was on her way to West Hollywood, where her charity hoped to sell enough donated wedding dresses to grant the wishes of about 20 dying women.

Returning from a successful bridal sale in Washington, D.C., the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation truck was rumbling through the Arizona desert when Hansen and her driver grew tired and stopped at a hotel for some rest.

When they came out Sunday morning, the truck -- and $3 million worth of dresses -- was gone.

``My heart stopped when I walked out there and saw that the truck and trailer was gone,'' said Hansen, the Oregon-based charity's national director. ``My heart was broken. All I could see was women waiting to have their wishes granted based on the sale of these dresses.''

Scottsdale police are investigating but don't have any suspects, Officer Dave Pubins said.

Hansen's first thought was that the theft of the truck and its 2,000 dresses -- about 80 percent of Making Memories' saleable inventory -- meant young women who had watched breast cancer invade their bodies would go without those Christmas wishes.

The sale at the Hyatt West Hollywood this Friday and Saturday would have been the 32nd, and final, of the year. Hansen hoped to raise $100,000.

``Without restocking these donated dresses, we are dead in the water,'' Hansen said.

But by Monday afternoon, Making Memories had been buoyed by gown-designer Demetrios, which pledged to donate 300-400 discontinued gowns.

``I couldn't think of a better thing to do with these dresses,'' said Eunice Holt, general manager of Brides by Demetrios in Scottsdale, not far from the Country Inn & Suites hotel where the truck was stolen.

With other donations trickling in and two smaller trucks planning to swing by a Portland, Ore., warehouse, the West Hollywood sale won't be interrupted, said local chairwoman Suzanne Appel.

``We are not skipping a beat,'' she said. ``There is definitely drama, but we are going to fill up the ballroom.''

Co-founded by Hansen and her daughter, Anna Nelson, Making Memories granted its first wish July 10, 1999, to Nancy White-Kelly, who dreamed of reuniting her entire 31-member family.

``Except for becoming a Christian, my marriage and the birth of our son, this was the most exciting event of my lifetime,'' White-Kelly wrote to Hansen, thanking her.

The next year, White-Kelly surprised Hansen on ``The Oprah Winfrey Show.'' Hansen was named one of Oprah's Angels. And wedding gown donations poured in -- 3,000 in the first week, Hansen said.

Since 1999, more than 1,000 people have been affected by Making Memories' work. Most wishes cost between $4,000 and $6,000. They include family trips to Disneyworld, renewed wedding vows and a few minutes with famous people.

For Shari Kahane's children, the wishes were no small order. In 2003, as the West Hills family grappled with Kahane's 10-year battle with breast cancer and its spread to her liver and lungs, Making Memories arranged for her 16-year-old son to meet Microsoft founder Bill Gates and for her 11-year-old son to get a private tour of the White House -- not the behind-the-ropes viewing.

``We are not the only ones that suffer: The children suffer right along with us,'' said Kahane, 53, who has outlived doctors' predictions by 11 years and was appalled to hear of the gown theft. ``Every change in our physical status, they are a nervous wreck. Every time you lose your hair, they think that is it, you're over, you're done.

``Making Memories understands the needs of not just the mother but the children. They are one of a kind.''

brad.greenberg(at)dailynews.com

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HOW TO HELP

The Charity Wedding Gown Sale is at the Hyatt West Hollywood from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation uses all sales to grant wishes for women dying of breast cancer. For more information or to donate a dress, visit www.makingmemories.org or call [phone].

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