Let’s Make Wishes Come True for Critically Ill Children in Alberta!

The Cause

Make-A-Wish, Southern Alberta Chapter is on a mission to grant a wish for every critically ill child in Alberta. We are requesting a gift of $20,000, which will help us give hope and deliver the transformative power of a wish to two children with critical illnesses in our community. Right now, there are 140 kids waiting for their wishes to be granted, with more being referred every day.

A wish is much more than a nice to have, it is an essential component of a child's treatment journey. Wishes provide the wish children and their families a chance to "forget" their medical burdens. Embracing their once-in-a-lifetime wish sparks a renewed determination and strength, for them, the parents, siblings and community.

Who Will it Benefit?

While our focus is on providing a wish to all critically ill children in Alberta, the power and impact of a wish goes beyond the wish child.

Travel wishes provide a much needed break for an entire family. Make-A-Wish is proud to cover the entire thought process and cost of the vacation, with no burden to the parents who are already going above and beyond to care for their ill child. As one parent recently pointed out to us and expressed his upmost gratitude for their wish to Disney World, the siblings of a wish kid are greatly impacted by their ill sibling and their wish provided a time for the entire family to be together and create lasting memories which isn't the case when they are home and in treatment. One parent is always with the sick child at the hospital, while the other is working and the siblings are often raised by their community and have to grow up faster than their peers to be self-sufficient.

It is incredibly special to watch the humanity of our wish kids and the thought they put into this moment, from wishing for a trip for the entire family to a playhouse to create special moments with their sister. We have learned a lot from these kids on the benefit and impact it has on everyone involved in the wish.

Wishes impact an entire community because it takes a community to provide care for the child and support for the family. Doctors say the greatest thing they can provide to an ill child is a wish because from that moment on the conversations in the hospital room, with nurses and specialist can move from just the illness to hope, planning and the identity wishes give to ill children.