PSA 2

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a non-profit organization that grants wishes to children with critical illnesses. Donations can be made to the National Fund or a specific region. Medical professionals, parents, and the child themselves can refer a child for a wish. The child must meet certain criteria and the wish must be reasonable and medically appropriate. The process involves exploring wishes, completing forms, scheduling the wish, and finally the wish day. The child's illness does not have to be terminal and they cannot receive more than one wish. There is no financial criteria to meet. The cost of each wish varies. The most requested wishes fall into categories such as going somewhere, being someone, meeting someone, having something, and experiencing something. The speaker also mentions their own website that aims to help people achieve their fitness goals. Donations to the Make-A-Wish Foundation are encouraged. Hello, my name is Jalisa Soto, and for today's recording, I will be going over who and how a child or participant receives or gets a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. To begin, I want to say that the Make-A-Wish Foundation is a non-profit organization, but they do accept donations, and within these donations, you are able to target specific regions or areas that you would like your donation to contribute to. Within the ability to make donations, the participant is able to send their money towards the National Fund, where the funds sent will be able to target towards any child who is able to gain a wish, or towards the local fund, where the participants are able to select a specific state to send their funds towards, or to be used towards children and their wishes in the specific region chosen. These people are able to make a one-time donation or a monthly donation, it's up to their choosing. The only way a child is able to receive a wish is to be referred to as getting one. To refer a child, Make-A-Wish has a selection on their website that allows a person to refer a child or a potential candidate. The only people allowed to refer a child or candidate is medical professionals treating the child, such as doctors, nurses, social workers, or child life specialists, a parent or legal guardian of the potential wish child, family members with detailed knowledge of the child's current medical condition, or the potential wish child themselves. I would also like to state that, although wishes seem to be granted to everyone, there is a specific criteria that the child needs to meet to be able to qualify for one. These candidates do need to meet a certain criteria of being diagnosed with a critical illness, progressive, degenerative, or malignant condition that is placing the child's life in jeopardy, older than two and a half years, or younger than 18 years old, has not received a wish from another wish-granting organization. When or if the child is granted a wish, then the next steps will occur as follows. Make-A-Wish will send out a family guide that lists out any worries or concerns you may have about the experience. In this packet, it explains to maintain open communication with the organization to make for a smooth process. Some basic points made in the packet are allow for the volunteers to work with the Make-A-Wish to help your child or the participant come up with a meaningful wish that will bring them joy, fill out all the paperwork and photocopy as needed, to be understanding that not all wishes are doable and that there are some limitations such as housing or structural renovations to a house, weapons or firearms, money or financial assistance, medical assistance, transportation or treatment, or airfare to a medical facility, and more. To the basic information, there are six simple steps given to the wish can be granted. Step one, explore your ideas of a wish to grant. Explore the child's imagination and allow them to choose a wish that is meaningful to them and that will bring them the most joy. Step two, complete the Make-A-Wish form. This form will allow the volunteers to get to know the participant more and get a feel for how to better prepare themselves for the wish to be granted. Step three, the welcome call. A member from the team will be reaching out soon to have a phone call conversation with you to discuss your child's wish ideas, answer any questions you have, and to explain more about the process and the wish schedule. Step four, the wish discovery meeting and approval of the wish. During this meeting, they will assist you in exploring wish options, completing a Make-A-Wish paperwork packet, and answering any remaining questions. The wish child will need to be present at that meeting to subscribe their wish in detail to the volunteers, to ask any remaining questions, and to officially make their wish request. All wishes must go through an approval process which can take some time. Make-A-Wish has guidelines and policies that must be followed. All wishes must be reasonable, attainable, and medically appropriate for the child's age and medical conditions. Step five, scheduling the wish. Once your child's wish has been authorized, your wish coordinator will work with you on the wish details to schedule the wish. They will work together to determine a time that works well for your family, your child's health circumstances, and Make-A-Wish resources. Step six, the wish day arrives. Overall, to receive a wish isn't difficult as long as the participant meets the requirements and is approved for the Make-A-Wish process. It isn't able to be created overnight. The length of the process is reasonable for the steps that need to be made in order to perform the magical wish. I have some frequently asked questions that may answer people's questions that they have about the process or selections of the participants. Does the child's illness have to be terminal? No, the child's illness does not have to be terminal. They have stated that many of their children have grown into adulthood and have lived happy lives. Can a child receive more than one wish? No, a child cannot receive more than one wish. It's only in the ones. Does the child have to meet a certain financial criteria? No, the child does not have to meet a financial criteria. They state that they grant wishes to children who qualify for their services without the regard to race, creed, religion, sex, or economic status. How long does it take to grant a wish from referral to fulfillment? It's not easy to specify how long it takes from wish referral to wish fulfillment as it often depends upon the wish requested. In some situations, a wish child can or may have to wait for their wish due to circumstances such as the children's treatment schedule or the availability of a popular celebrity. If the fulfillment of the wish must be delayed for any reason, the wish child and family are fully informed and the wish child is given the option to either make another wish request or to wait. How much does a wish cost to grant? Because every wish is different, costs vary depending on the wish. Whenever possible, Make-A-Wish seeks in-kind donations to help reduce the expenses. What are the most requested wishes? Typically, wishes fall into one of five general categories. I wish to go. Some Make-A-Wish kids want to travel to their favorite theme park while others want to visit an exotic beach, go on a cruise, or attend a major sporting event or concert. I wish to be. Children search the depths of their imagination when they wish to be someone for a day. A fireman, a police officer, a doctor, a princess, a pirate, a model, or a superhero. I wish to meet. Many wish kids to choose to meet their favorite athlete, recording artist, television personality, movie star, politician, or other public figures. I wish to have. Children sometimes wish for a special gift, such as a computer, a treehouse, cooking lessons at a renowned cooking institution, or a shopping spree. I wish to experience. Many kids want to have an experience such as feeling their sand under their feet, seeing snow for the first time. So I want to show and explain how my website is related to this topic. So similarly how this organization strives to help children in need to be able to have a goal or a dream of theirs, my website targets the same basis of how I want my participants to be able to gain their very own dream in their fitness journey. Although I'm not able to grant them a wish like this organization, I am able to provide steps for them to work on and have themselves gain their dream or wish in their fitness journey. I hope the information provided was helpful towards your information journey on the Make a Wish Foundation organization. I encourage you to donate towards the foundation as they have a beautiful values and are truly granting wishes to children in need for some joy or hope. And I also encourage you to visit my very own website and start your own journey in fitness or to support it as I also hope to help people grant their own wishes.