World Wish Day

When did you last make a wish? Was it on your previous birthday? Did you wish for health for a loved one who has a difficult battle ahead of them? Wishes come in many different shapes and forms. They are all important. After all, if you don’t have wishes and dreams, you don’t have hope!

Learn about World Wish Day

Dare to dream! If you did not have the capability to make your wildest wishes come true, your mind would not have the capacity to conjure such ideas in the first place.  

Anthon St. Maarten

World Wish Day is a day that celebrates wishes in all forms! This includes wishes that have not been granted yet, as well as those that have been.

The day was established by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This is a non-profit organization that was founded in Phoenix, United States. The purpose of the organization is to help terminally ill children achieve their wishes. They grant wishes for children between the age of two-and-a-half-years-old and 17-years-old.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation has grown massively over the years. It is in operation in 60 different locations within the United States. The organization is also in operation in 45 other countries around the world as well.

We will reveal more about how the Make-A-Wish Foundation started in the next section, as this relates to the creation of World Wish Day. But first, let’s take a look at the process that is involved if you want Make-A-Wish Foundation to make someone’s wishes come true. A child may be eligible to receive a wish if one of the following sources refers them: the potential wish child, a legal guardian or parent, or a medical professional that is treating a child. There is an online inquiry form, and so you simply need to fill this in if you would like to request a wish for a child who is unwell.

History of World Wish Day

It was the wish of seven-year-old Leukaemia sufferer Chris Greicius to become a police officer. When police heard about this they wanted to help and granted his wish. Young Chris was a police officer for one day on the 29th of April 1980. Others heard about this and thought that granting wishes for sick children was a good idea. So, the Make-A-Wish Foundation was founded and became one of the best-known children’s charities in the world.

This led to the birth of World Wish Day – the anniversary of the day the police granted Chris’ wish. There are now 48 countries involved in World Wish Day. People celebrate wish-granting across the globe by making dreams come true for sick children. Anyone who wants to get involved in this celebration can spread the word using social media sites, donate money to charity or refer a child they know.

World Wish Day has taken place every year since 2010. When the day first started, it marked the 30th anniversary of the day that Chris Greicius had his dream made. We would definitely recommend reading up on the story of Chris and the day he had. It is heart-warming, to say the least! Chris wanted to catch the bad guys and he loved playing policeman, and his dream came true.

Lt. Col. Dick Schaefer presented Chris with an old police badge of his and a “Smokey Bear” hat for the day. Plus, he swore in Chris as the first honorary DPS officer of Arizona (and only one for that matter!). The officers even made sure that there was an official police uniform made especially Chris. The uniform arrived at the hospital on the 1st of May, and Chris was delighted to wear it. Sadly, Chris’s battle with leukemia was lost a mere two days later.

It was heartbreaking, but there is a small comfort knowing that he spent his last few days achieving his dreams, and many other children have been able to do this too. There are some beautiful photos of Chris in his police officer uniform online. 

How to celebrate World Wish Day

There are many different ways that you can celebrate World Wish Day. One way to do this is by filling in the inquiry form at Make-A-Wish Foundation if you know someone who fulfils the criteria that are in place. If you know someone who deserves their dreams to be made, yet they do not fulfil the Make-A-Wish Foundation, you could try to find another way for their wishes to come true. This could include fundraising and getting a group of people together who can help to make the person’s wish a reality.

Another way that you can spend World Wish Day is by reading up on some of the amazing wishes that have been granted to children all over the world by the remarkable foundation. If you take a look at the Make-A-Wish Foundation website, you will be able to read all of the stories about children and their wishes.

From wanting to go to a sports game to being a police officer for the day, there are many different wishes that children want to come true. Not only can you read about their amazing stories, but you can also donate to different wishes to help them come true. This is definitely one of the most amazing things that you can do on World Wish Day. 

There are a lot of television shows and movies that relate to people making their wishes come true. We couldn’t think of a better film for World Wish Day than The Fault in our Stars. This is an American drama and romance film that was released in 2014. It follows the story of a 16-year-old cancer patient, Grace Lancaster, who is forced to attend a support group by her parents. She meets another cancer patient, Augustus Waters, and they fall on love, going on an incredible yet heartbreaking journey together.

We recommend having a box of tissues handy for this one! So, how does this film relate to making a wish? Well, in the film, there is a fictional organization called “Genies” that is very much like Make-A-Wish, and this enables Hazel and Augustus to go to Amsterdam together so that Hazel can visit her favorite author. We won’t give away anything else! 

A final suggestion for World Wish Day is to create your own wish jar for you and your family. You can encourage all family members to write their wishes on a piece of paper and fold them up, placing the paper inside of the jar. One wish, one piece of paper – that’s the rule! You and others can then sneak into the wish jar when no one else is around and try to make people’s dreams come true. You may not be able to grant all of the wishes right away, but it gives everyone in the family something to work toward. You can then experience the sheer joy on your loved ones’ faces when their dreams become a reality.