Make A Wish Foundation World Wish Day -

This post is a compensated post by Blog Frog.

When I first saw this video, I wondered what my answer would be.

“If you could have any wish in the world, what would it be?”

What would your answer be?

I started thinking, would my answer change if I knew I was dying, or if I knew that the new few years of my life would be filled with medical treatments?

As you may know from reading my past posts, when my daughter was born last year, we didn’t know if the virus I was carrying would affect her. We waited for two days, monitoring her, waiting for test results. During those 48 hours, I prayed and wondered how other parents who have to wait more than 48 hours can endure the worry and sadness. And have to do it day after day after day.

Then my brother and his wife had a high risk twin pregnancy, and their girls spent many weeks in the NICU. The traveling back and forth that they had to endure took a toll on them. I remember seeing my brother get thinner and thinner with the worry and the travel. And he only had to travel by car.

Then with my various surgeries this past winter, when I worried that I wouldn’t be there for my kids, I wondered what other parents who are fighting various life threatening illnesses and medical conditions go through with their own families.

Clearly, much, much more.

My experiences these past nine months hit home when I watched this video. Not only the question posed about what would my wish be, but what wish could I grant to a child who was not as lucky as my own.

On April 29, 2013, it is World Wide Wish day. A day of awareness for Make-A-Wish®. Make-A-Wish has granted more than 226,000 wishes in the U.S. since its inception in 1980. Yet, I have to say, while the numbers are impressive, it still makes me sad. That only averages about 7000 kids a year, and I know there are WAY more than that. Can you imagine if your kid was turned down. That by doing so, it is like telling him or her that their wish is not special enough. My heart hurts thinking about it.

So I started reading, and I learned that the Make-a-Wish Foundation grants wishes to all children who have life-threatening medical conditions. Not just those that are terminally ill. It is also an opportunity for them to experience something that they haven’t been able to do because of their condition or the time consuming treatments. A wish that will enable them to be kids again, and not just a patient. An important feeling for them and their families.

I also didn’t know that Make-A-Wish also accepts airline mile donations. One of the biggest needs is air travel in fulfilling a wish. (Why the airlines don’t step up to the plate here, I don’t know.) It is the largest cost associated with wishes. When I learned that I could donate my unused airlines miles, I was estatic. I have several airlines cards with a few thousand points one them. I’m always getting mail saying I’m about to lose my points and how I can convert them to some magazine. Well, now I can (and will) donate them to the Make a Wish Foundation instead. (Who has time to read a magazine anymore anyway?)

So here is the deal. If you are reading this post before April 15th (Tax Day), donate to the cause. You get to deduct it off your taxes! If you have airline points, donate those any time in April 2013 and they will be matched by WWE® Superstar John Cena® up to 4.5 million so that by World Wish Day, the day of the wish that inspired the founding of Make-A-Wish, we can help wish kids take flight.