Help Wish Kids Take Flight – #WorldWishDay

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Make-A-Wish®. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Of all the things I’m most thankful for it’s the health of our daughter.  We’ve been so very blessed that over the years the most we’ve had to deal with when it comes to medical illnesses has been the odd cold and a set of stitches.  That isn’t the case for every family though, and I love the cause of the Make-A-Wish®-Foundation, who grant wishes to children with life threatening medical illneses.

If you’re unfamiliar with Make-A-Wish it is one of the nation’s leading children’s charities.  30 years ago, a 7-year-old boy received his heartfelt wish to be a police officer for a day. That one wish inspired the founding of Make-A-Wish and launched the wish granting movement that circles the globe today.  Now it serves children in every community in the United States and its territories.  Statisically, Make-A-Wish grants a wish somewhere in the country every 38 minutes. Nearly 14,000 in 2012 alone!  The thing is, nearly 75% of wishes require an airplane flight, which as many of you know personally, can be a costly expense.  

In fact, approximately 50,000 airline tickets, the equivalent of 2.5 billion airlines miles or $37.5 million, would be needed each year to cover the cost associated with sending wish kids and their families to and from these incredible experiences.

The great thing about helping out an organization like this to grant the wishes, is that you can donate money OR frequent flier miles at wish.org/tickets and help wish kids take flight.  See how it works below:

#WorldWishDay is April 29th, and if you participate in this cause, you can maximize your donated miles with the help of some other people and business.  WWE® Superstar John Cena® will personally match every frequent flier mile donated in April, up to 4.5 million.  United Airlines will also support World Wish Day by matching the donations of its MileagePlus® members, up to 3 million miles, through April 30.  Several other Make-A-Wish sponsors are coordinating special World Wish Day promotions, including Maggiano’s Little Italy®, Marquis®, Brooks Brothers, and Dave & Buster’s.  The more air miles and/or dollars donated reduces wish costs which allows Make-A-Wish to grant more kids with life-threatening medical conditions their wishes.

The wishes that are granted aren’t just frivolous trips, they can be pivot points in the course of a child’s treatment, making them feel better and in some cases, even help them get better. A wish-come-true brings hope, strengthens families, provides moments of happiness and inspiration, and helps create strong community bonds.  That’s something I’d like to be a part of, how about you?!

This year, 10,000 wish kids and their families will travel for a Make-A-Wish® experience. That’s 50,000 roundtrip tickets or 2.5 billion frequent flier miles. In honor of World Wish Day®, the day of the wish that inspired the founding of Make-A-Wish, visit wish.org/tickets and donate miles and dollars – and help wish kids take flight.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Make-A-Wish®. The opinions and text are all mine.