The Make a Wish Foundation is an amazing foundation that is used to grant wishes for children with life threatening illnesses. It makes a huge impact on many children’s lives. The sky is the limit when they get to chose their wish, as long as it doesn’t put them in danger. The wish is a time to get away from treatment and bills, and they can just relax for a while.

There is a lot of history to this foundation. The Make a Wish Foundation was founded in Phoenix, Arizona in 1980. Chris Greicius, a 7 year old boy, was the first child to have his wish granted. It started when Chris was diagnosed with leukemia. All he had ever wanted to be when he grew up was a police officer. A police station had heard of his condition and they wanted to help. To make his wish come true, they flew him to the headquarters in a helicopter for a tour. They also took him in a patrol car for a ride. They presented him with a custom police uniform, a motorcycle helmet, and a battery powered bike. After that, the foundation was officially established in November 1980. The foundation formed a national office in 1984. In the early 1980’s, Make a Wish established a relationship with the Walt Disney Company.

Make a Wish foundation has made a huge impact on children’s lives. The original and main purpose of the organization was to grant wishes to kids under the age of 18 that suffer from a life-threatening illness. The foundation believes that making their wish come true will help them fight their illness harder. They also believe that it gives the family a chance to be a normal family again. They think that it can be an amazing experience for the child because it is a time that you can spend away from treatment and bills. Make a Wish’s mission statement is “We grant wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy. “ (Facts)

Fundraising is an important part to making a child’s wish come true. Since it is a non-profit organization, fundraising can sometimes be a challenge. They are always trying to come up with new ways to raise money. Many schools are involved with fundraisers for the Make a Wish foundation. Their goal is to get more schools to do fundraising. Make a Wish does not raise funds by asking for donations door to door. They also do not do telephone solicitation methods, or receive funding from any federal, state, or local government.

I bet there’s a lot you don’t know about Make a Wish foundation. There are tons of interesting facts and statistics about the foundation, along with a couple qualification facts about the wish children. To qualify for a wish, you must be older than 2 ½, and younger than 18. You cannot have received a “wish” from any other wish granting organization. A physician must certify that the child has a life threatening medical condition. There are several people that can request a wish for the child. A parent, legal guardian, social worker, child life specialist, physicians, nurse, the child itself, or any other medical profession involved in the care of the child can request a wish. Now for the actual wish, there are not usually any restrictions of the wish, as long as it is a positive experience and does not have any threat of danger.

On the other hand, there are a lot of different facts and statistics you don’t know. I have a few facts for you. The Make a Wish’s national office is located in Phoenix, Arizona, the same place where the foundation started. The family does not have to pay any money for the trip. All expenses are fully covered. The make a wish foundation is the largest and most professional wish granting organization in the world.
I have some interesting statistics! In 1995, a wish cost an average of $3,800. In 2008, it cost $7,017, and in 2010 they cost an average of $7200, so it would probably cost an average of $7,500 today. In 2008, there were a total of 165,000 wishes. There has been a total of 218, 654 wishes as of today. There is a wish granted every 38 minutes. Did you know that for every dollar donated, over 76% goes towards wish granting? (Wasson, Carol pg. 30) This meaning, if you donate one dollar, 76 cents would go towards a wish. There are a total of 64 chapters in the US. A chapter is also known as an office. There is one in each state, 2 or more in larger states. In 2007, there were a total of 13,007 wishes granted. 41% of the wishes were theme park related, 18.5% were traveling and cruise related, 11.6% were shopping sprees, 7.9% were to own a computers or a electronic, and 6.9% were celebrity related wishes.
There are many different types of wishes that children make; the sky is the limit. There is not really one typical wish. One of the most popular wishes is to go to Disney Land. Some examples are “to be”, “to meet”, “to have”, and “to go”. Some popular “to be” wishes are to be a movie actor, superhero, ballerina, game show contestant, fashion designer, or a police officer. Children like to go to: the Grammy’s awards, teen choice awards, the super bowl, a movie premiere, or to a Disney theme park. Some popular things children like “to have” are a pet, a computer, an electronic, a drum or guitar, a bedroom makeover, or a shopping spree. Some children like to meet famous people such as an actor or actress, a singer or music group, a movie director, their role model, or a cartoon character.
Overall, the Make a Wish is a great foundation to help kids with life threatening illnesses to have a positive experience. They get to spend a while away from treatment and bills, and they get to enjoy themselves for a change. This foundation has made a huge impact on 218,000 kids! Make a wish has become a big and very popular foundation. They have been granting life changing wishes since 1980, or 32 years! Make a Wish is an amazing foundation that will continue to change children’s lives for a very long time.