Help Make A Child’s Wish Come True

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a charity that grants wishes of children ages 2½-18 years old who have a life-threatening medical condition. The Foundation has granted the wishes of more than 196,000 children since it started in 1980. The Make-A-Wish Foundation, in 2009, granted 13,465 wishes. A child’s wish is granted every 40 minutes!

According to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, “the most popular wish is to visit a theme park, which accounts for more than 40% of the requests from our wish kids. Typically, children’s wishes fall into four categories: To Be (e.g., a zookeeper, a firefighter, a baker), To Meet (e.g., a favorite celebrity or athlete), To Have (e.g., a computer, a playhouse, a puppy), or To Go (e.g., to a theme park, Hawaii, a major sporting event).”

The Make-A-Wish Foundation provides many ways for the public to help make a child’s wish a reality. Here are some ways you can do so:

1. Participate in a promotion that “gives back”. There is a whole list of services and companies participating including 7-Eleven, Creative Memories, and Safety 1st. Many are donating a portion of their proceeds to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
2. Donate financially. One-time and monthly donations can be made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Money can even be donated in honor or memory of someone and a card or certificate can be provided to the donor (or person being honored). This makes a great birthday gift.
3. Non-cash gifts are welcome as well. Donate airline miles,  building supplies, computer equipment, and hotel loyalty points among other things.
4. Volunteer your time and talents. According to their website, “nearly 25,000 volunteers help the Make-A-Wish Foundation maintain its grassroots support by delivering the organization’s mission to seriously ill children across the country. Volunteers serve Make-A-Wish chapters in a variety of capacities, including wish granting, office administrative support, special events, fundraising, language translation and much more.”
5. You can also “adopt a wish”. A member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s staff will work directly with you to select a wish. By funding a wish, you can create special memories for a child—and yourself.

I hope I gave you some ideas of how you can help the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There are many other ways people can help and if you would like to learn more you can visit their website.