charity begins at home: the make-a-wish Foundation
Filed Under Tips & Tricks | September 1, 2010
Here is the second installment in our series of Canadian kids charities that we love. And we do love the Make-A-Wish Foundation!
For 28 years, the Make-A-Wish Foundation® has been dedicated to granting the special wishes of kids aged three to 17 who are battling a life-threatening medical condition.
Make-A-Wish provides an escape – an escape from the pain, the isolation and the burden of an uncertain future. When the kids are asked to think about their wish, they begin to focus on something positive rather than thinking about being sick. They become hopeful and are empowered to dream, rather than feel like a victim of their illness.
Having a wish helps restore the mental and emotional health of the wish kids and their families by alleviating some of the stress, fear, and anxiety that comes with coping with a life-threatening illness. Doctors do what they can to restore the physical health, and Make-A-Wish helps the other more intangible but equally important part of the healing process – the mental part. Ultimately, their goal is to create a sense of normalcy and an opportunity for joy during a time of incredible pressure.
A wish is the child’s answer to the question, “If you could have anything in the world, go anywhere, be anything, or meet anyone in the world … what would you choose? What would you do?” Wishes range from fantasy or experiential wishes like wanting to be a princess for a day or swim with the dolphins, to meeting their favourite celebrity or hero. And Make-A-Wish does whatever they can to make that happen.
In Canada, Make-A-Wish was founded by Nigel Brown and Robb Lucy who were inspired by a TV story on Make-A-Wish America’s launch in Phoenix, Arizona. Armed with incredible enthusiasm, personal credit cards and a large network of friends, they applied for and were granted charitable status and set to work granting their first wish – providing a young woman named Debbie with a trip to Germany to meet her grandmother. Sadly, Debbie passed away shortly after her wish, but the concept endures to this day.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of BC and Yukon was the first Canadian Chapter founded in 1983. Today, there are seven Canadian Chapters across the country and one National Office located in Toronto which together grant over 400 wishes annually to Canadian children.
In Vancouver, visit www.makeawishbc.ca
In Toronto, visit www.makeawish.ca/chapter/toronto
If you have a favourite charity that you would love to see profiled, please let us know and if you have any personal stories of how the Make a Wish Foundation has helped you or someone you know or been active in your community we’d love it if you’d share them using the comment functionality at the bottom of this article on the yoyomama site.
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