14-year-old Emerson (Emy), is a typical teenager who loves spending time with her friends, shopping and going to music festivals. Emy also likes watching scary movies like Coraline, doing makeup, playing with her cat Jones, and drawing. One day, she hopes to be an eye doctor.
Emy is undergoing treatment for cancer. Her wish was to go on a shopping spree with her mom, her dad, her brother, and her best friend.
After going on her shopping spree, Emy said her wish let her forget about cancer.
“I loved that I got to bring my best friend and had a limo ride to and from the mall. We had so much fun shopping and then getting to open all our bags on the ride home. It made me feel special and not just sick,” she said.
Emy said that “cancer’s hard and feels terrible” and that her shopping spree gave her and her family “something to look forward to” and that she was “really grateful that Make-A-Wish made it possible.”
Her message of hope for other kids waiting for their wish is that “it’s going to be awesome…it’s going to be better than you expect and so special for your family.”
Hope is essential for children with critical illnesses, and its life-changing power is unlocked when wishes like Emerson’s are granted. Together we can continue to transform lives, one wish at a time.
Every 20 minutes, a family hears the devastating news that their child is diagnosed with a critical illness. A wish can help improve a child’s quality of life and even produce better health outcomes.
Help us make a wish come true for a special child.
Wishes are an important part of a child’s medical journey. When children are battling a critical illness, so much of their childhood is taken away from them and can leave them feeling hopeless. A wish gives kids the chance to see past their illness. It provides hope, brings back a sense of childhood for the child and a sense of normalcy for their families. Research shows, and physicians agree, that wishes help improve a child’s quality of life and even produce better health outcomes.
Wishes are waiting, and we need your help. With a gift from you today, a child can experience the power of a wish.
Make-A-Wish® creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. We are on a quest to bring every eligible child’s wish to life, because a wish is an integral part of a child’s journey. Research shows children who have wishes granted can build the physical and emotional strength they need to fight a critical illness. As an independently operating affiliate of Make-A-Wish International, Make-A-Wish Canada is part of the network of the world’s leading children’s wish-granting organization. We serve children in every community in Canada, and in more than 50 countries worldwide. Since 1983, Make-A-Wish Canada has granted over 38,500 wishes across the country, over 1,400 last year alone!
There are many ways you can help to bring hope, strength, and joy to children who really need it. No matter how you choose to get involved, when you’re a part of the Make-A-Wish Canada community, the support of generous people like you empowers us to make each wish a reality.
Right now, we have over 185 eligible kids waiting for wishes in Southern Alberta, with more being referred every day. With the symbolic value of a wish at $10,000, people like you make it possible for us to continue granting life-changing wishes for children facing critical illnesses.
Explore the many ways you can help below or contact us for more details!
Donate: Give children with critical illnesses a reason to hope for a brighter future and help make their wishes come true!
Hold a fundraiser: Join friends, family, or colleagues to raise money and bring people together. Whether you’re an individual, employee, organization or community, every bit of support goes a long way to grant the wishes of eligible children.
Support an event or campaign: You can support us through one of our seasonal campaigns or annual events, including:
Volunteer: Give the most valuable gift of all – time. Volunteers hard work, passion and commitment to giving children a magical wish experience make them the heart and soul of our foundation. As a volunteer, you’ll change the lives of many children and your own!
Learn more about how to get involved.