Make a Wish...

Maybe some of you are familiar with the video of a small boy dressed up as Batman ‘saving’ San Francisco? If not, you can take a look here:

5-year-old Miles Scott has been battling leukemia for nearly all his life and the Make-A-Wish-Foundation granted his biggest wish: To be Batman for one day. Hundreds of people came out to cheer on ‘Batkid’ who could forget his illness for one day and even President Obama sent a message of support. 

This is only one of many wishes the Make-A-Wish-Foundation grants ill children all across the world every day. The non-profit-organization was founded in the US in 1980 and has granted over 300,000 wishes until today. The first kid whose wish was fulfilled was 7-year-old Christopher James Greicius with leukemia, who wanted to be a police officer for one day. 

The criteria to get a wish fulfilled are that the child has to have a life-threatening medical condition and be between the ages two and a half and eighteen. Potential wish kids, medical professionals treating the kid or parents, legal guardians or family members with detailed knowledge of the child’s medical condition can refer a child to the foundation. Most wishes fall into five categories:

I wish to go… children who wish to go somewhere, e.g. a theme park, the beach, a concert,…

I wish to be… children who want to be someone for one day, e.g. a police officer, or in the case of Miles Batman

I wish to meet… children who want to meet their favorite athlete, musician, actor, etc.

I wish to have… children who are given special presents, e.g. a computer, a tree house, a digital camera,…

I wish to give… children who use their wish to make the world better and raise funds or celebrate a holiday for their family, etc. 

Though the organization was founded in the US, it now operates in 47 countries around the world (since 1997 also in Austria!) through 36 affiliate offices. 

I personally think the organization is great, because it gives ill children hope and they can forget their illness for one day. Especially for those children who have battled an illness for nearly all of their lives it’s amazing, because they can catch a break for once. Of course there are always critics, even for such a compassionate organization. Some people for example thought that the story of Batkid, which was on the news throughout America and even in some other countries, makes other kids with the same illness feel bad, because they can’t have the same experience. Some people also say that Make-A-Wish only makes people feel better, because they feel good helping an ill kid, but there are so many more ill kids out there who are ignored. And also some criticize that it would be more important to grant the best medical help for ill children and not wishes so that they have fun for one day. And even though I can understand all these statements, I still think the foundation is very important and ultimately does the right thing. All the children whose wishes are fulfilled had tough lives until that point and deserve to have fun and smile again for a day. 

If you want to check out the organization here are the links for the International, Austrian and American websites.