Make A Wish Foundation Of Arizona Inc

The entire Make-A-Wish Foundation concept was first created here in Phoenix, and now is at work across the country helping children with severe disabilities and those struggling to overcome life-threatening medical conditions, i.e., leukemia, muscular dystrophy, various cancers of the brain, eye, bone and organs, cerebral palsy, etc. etc.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Arizona has been helping these children - one at a time - since 1981. Each year we serve approximately 200 critically ill children or those with long-term severe medical disabilities for whom our attention to their needs inspires them to keep fighting for more quality in their lives.

Thanks to some 450 local volunteers who support our small professional staff, we are able to encourage and help to strenghten the parents of these children and increase their sibllings resolve, as well as motivate and inspire the children by helping them to plan a future event or articulate their dreams and establish a future goal, which then our trained volunteers attempt to help them persoanlly accomplish. We help them plan and take steps toward achieving their goals, while experiencing some rare fun as a family. By remembering the joy of this achievement they often feel a renewed 'can do' spirit. By educating them and helping them to understand and increase their awareness of how they can affect their own healthcare, we help to provide the mental and emotional tools for increasing their chances for survival, and keeping their attitudes more positive and life a bit more joyous.

Physicians and/or hospital or medical staff make most of our referrals, however, sometimes a parent or social worker is aware of the child's loss of hope and discouragement, for which our attention and the granting of a wish can be just the right medicine and is often credited as a turn-around in the child's struggle to keep hopeful and work toward recovery.

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Arizona also trains teams of volunteers to make weekly visits to the children's wards of each Phoenix hospital in order to share cheer and give the children a brief respite to their fears. The adult volunteers dressed up in happy costumes are a part of our Smilemaker's Program team. Although they simply visit each child, distributing a balloon or a playing a joke, they are also giving these little children a chance to forget their pains and enjoy a giggle. They help to brighten the day for the parents and the children as well as share a laugh with the medical staff as they share healthcare information and education about our programs with everyone they meet.