We grant the wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy.
proud partner:
• A "wish" is a child's heartfelt answer to the question: If you could go anywhere…meet anyone…have anything…or be anyone...what would you choose?
• A child’s condition does not have to be terminal to qualify for a wish. Many of the children with life-threatening medical conditions who qualify for a wish go on to lead healthy, happy lives. It is the child’s physician who makes the determination of whether a child has a life-threatening medical condition.
• A wish come true helps children feel stronger, more energetic, more willing and able to battle their life-threatening medical conditions. For many of them, it marks a turning point in their fight against their illnesses.
• A wish improves children’s state of mind, replacing fear with happiness and helping them to feel like normal kids again. Through their wish experience, wish kids feel less isolated and more empowered to take back control of their lives.
• Parents report that wish experiences help repair and strengthen their families through a return to normalcy, and that feelings of hope and optimism replace fear and stress.
• Make-A-Wish is a highly recognized international wish granting organization with affiliates located in 36 countries worldwide.
• Make-A-Wish International was founded in Phoenix Arizona in 1980
• Founded in Canada in 1983, Make-A-Wish Canada consists of seven regional Chapters and a Canada office, which is located in Toronto
• Since 1980, Make-A-Wish has granted over 300,000 wishes worldwide.
• Since 1998, Make-A-Wish Northern Alberta has granted over 600 wishes to Northern Alberta children
• Every 23 minutes, Make-A-Wish grants the wish of a child with a life-threatening medical condition somewhere in the world
• The inspiration for Make-A-Wish was a wish granted to Chris Greicius by members of the Arizona Highway Patrol. Chris, who had leukemia, wished to become a police officer.
• In 1998, Make-A-Wish Northern Alberta granted their first wish to a young girl who wished to go to the set of ‘Days of Our Lives’
• We ensure the wish is very personal, involves the family and is free from financial worries.
• Make-A-Wish encourages the entire family to be a part of the wish experience, knowing that parents and siblings need magical moments just as much as the wish child.
• We rely on donations from individuals, corporations, grants and bequests to support our wish granting activities.
• We do not participate in chain letters, door-to-door solicitations, or telemarketing.
• We do not solicit wishes. Wishes are referred to us through the medical community, friends or relatives.
• We do not embark on "group" wishes. All wishes are individual and based on the child's chosen wish.
• The children range from 3-17 and may have cystic fibrosis, heart disease, childhood cancers or variety of other conditions
• Make-A-Wish does not decide which child receives a wish. Every child referred, who is deemed eligible for a wish, receives their wish.
For more information, quotes or comments please contact Communications Coordinator, Amber Benders, at amber.benders@makeawish.ca or 780-444-9474.
