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The Sacramento & Northeastern California Make-A-Wish Foundation®, established in 1983, grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions between the ages 2 ½ and 18. Within its vast service area, from Modesto to the Oregon border, including El Dorado County and the Tahoe area, the Make-A-Wish Foundation® creates a compassionate community where each child’s wish focuses on bringing him/her hope, strength and joy….magical moments to provide a lifetime of wonderful memories.
Once a child is determined to be eligible by a physician, volunteer teams work with the child and family to help make the wish come true. Wish teams interview children and a Make-A-Wish staff member works out the logistics.
Wishes fall into four broad categories:
I would like to go….
Over 50% of wishes are requests to meet Mickey Mouse…to visit Disneyland or DisneyWorld. They call it the Magic Kingdom for a reason! These trips include tickets, travel expenses, accommodations and spending money for a child and his or her immediate family. Other destination might include New York City to attend a Broadway play and to see the sites, the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas or Hawaii to swim with dolphins.
I would like to be…."
…a fire fighter, a model, a highway patrol officer—the list goes on!
I would like to meet…
Adam Sandler, Jeff Gordon, The Rock, Tiger Woods, Johnny Depp and Raven are just some of the celebrities who graciously comply with a child’s wish to meet them.
I would like to have…
A computer is the most requested “special gift” wish. Children also wish for toys, playhouses, new clothes, golf clubs, swing sets, new bedroom sets…the list is a long and creative one. Whenever possible, a limousine delivers the child and his or her family to other destinations, followed by lunch or dinner. A wish reintroduces the magic and wonder back into a child’s life. A child actually gets two wishes…one is the wish they make and the second wish is to get to be a child again.
Wish child Justin - His wish, DisneyWorld.
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