The Make-a-Wish Foundation

We all want to feel like we’re making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. To some extent or another, we’re all aware of the imbalances in life, and we have an inherent desire to try to balance things out. Regardless of how bad we feel about imbalances, we feel especially bad for children. The innocence of children tugs at our heartstrings and urges us to do something. This is where the Make-a-Wish Foundation comes into play.

What is the Make-a-Wish Foundation?

The Make-a-Wish Foundation is an organization that strives to give children with life-threatening conditions a wish. The organization believes that a granted wish can change a child’s perspective and hopefully improve their condition, or at least give them a chance to fulfill a lifelong desire.

The impetus for the organization happened in the spring of 1980 with a little boy named Chris Greicius, who was dying of leukemia. Chris wished to be a police officer and "catch bad guys," but with his diagnoses, he was unlikely to ever succeed. Luckily, Chris’s mother had a friend whose husband was a U.S. Customs agent that set everything up for Chris to be a cop for a day. Chris passed away five days later. His funeral included the ceremony of a fallen officer.

Chris’s story inspired the start of the foundation, and today the foundation has granted wishes to over 270,000 children.

How Does Make-a-Wish Work?

The Make-a-Wish Foundation’s funds come from donations from individuals, corporations, and other organizations. Granting wishes relies on medical professionals, parents, and the children themselves submitting a referral to the foundation requesting a wish. To be eligible for a wish, the child cannot have received a wish from a different organization, must be between the ages of 2-18 when the referral was submitted, and must have been diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition by a physician.  

Once a child has been deemed eligible, a "wish team" will meet with the child and work with them to discover what would be their personalized "perfect day."

How You Can Get Involved with Make-a-Wish:

You can donate money, stocks, hotel loyalty points, or airline miles. You can also set up a monthly donation or fundraising opportunity. Make-a-Wish also has an adopt-a-wish program that allows for the organization or company that raised funds to know which child received the donation and details about their wish. Volunteer opportunities are also available with certain chapters of the organization.

Giving to the Make-a-Wish foundation helps ensure that every life (no matter how short) will have significance and joy.

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