Make-A-Wish Foundation

Not to be confused with Kids Wish Network.

Make-A-Wish

Formation	April 29, 1980;45 years ago (1980-04-29)
Type	501(c)(3) non-profit organization
Purpose	Fulfilling the wishes of children with critical illnesses
Headquarters	Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Region	International
President & CEO	Leslie Motter [1]
Website	wish.org

President Barack Obama with Make-A-Wish recipient Nick Wetzel and his older brother Stephan on December 9, 2016

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of seriously ill children. The organization is headquartered in Phoenix ^[2] and operates through its 58 chapters located throughout the United States. Make-A-Wish also operates in about 50 other countries through 40 international affiliates. ^[3] Professional wrestler John Cena holds the title for the most wishes granted by a single individual, at over 650 wishes. ^{[4] [5]}

In popular culture

• In the 1997 made-for-TV movie A Child's Wish , Missy's wish is to go to the White House to meet the president who was responsible for signing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 into law, which her father lobbied to pass after being fired for visiting Missy in the cancer ward. Make-A-Wish is not sure she will get to meet the president or be allowed to see the Oval Office, but in the end, President Bill Clinton, playing himself in a cameo appearance, meets her to make her wish come true.
• A 1997 sketch of the HBO series Mr. Show with Bob and David focuses on a knock-off of Make-a-Wish called "Dream of a Lifetime", an organization run by two men trying to offer a discount for families of ill children, but whose lack of resources or connections ends with one of them in prison.
• In the South Park episode "Kenny Dies", Make-A-Wish is satirized when they visit Kenny in the hospital and ask what his one wish is. Kenny wishes to not die, but the request could not be fulfilled.
• In the Family Guy episode "If I'm Dyin', I'm Lyin'", a parody of the Make-A-Wish called the Grant-a-Dream Foundation was presented. In Tom Tucker: The Man and his Dream, a Make-A-Wish child is shown on the set of Quahog 5 News.
• In January 2008, the satirical news site The Onion produced a parody video claiming that the Make-A-Wish was bankrupted due to a child's wish for "infinite wishes". The video was apparently so convincing that some people believed it to be real, and it had to be debunked by the urban legends website Snopes. ^[6] The Mansion and The Chaser's War on Everything did similar sketches about the Make-A-Wish, the latter causing an unprecedented amount of controversy. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]}
• In the 2008 feature film New York, I Love You , an unnamed boy (played by Anton Yelchin) takes a girl who uses a wheelchair (played by Olivia Thirlby) to prom night. When they run into an ex-girlfriend and the situation gets awkward, the girl says "Make A Wish" to release the tension, suggesting the boy is granting her wish to attend prom night while being in a wheelchair. Later, she uses the sentence "Make A Wish" again, suggesting she wants the boy to make love to her.
• Make-a-Wish made headlines in 2013 with an elaborate Batman-themed wish, turning a young child into "Batkid". This wish was heavily publicized, and was chronicled in a documentary entitled Batkid Begins . In 2018 Batkid was considered to be cancer-free. ^[11]
• In The Fault in Our Stars , a 2014 American romantic drama film, the character Augustus suggests that Hazel should use the "cancer wish" she received from "Genies" - a fictional organization just like Make-A-Wish - to travel to Amsterdam to visit her favorite author.
• In a comedy sketch from the Key & Peele season 4 episode "Scariest Movie Ever", Jordan Peele portrays a dying child unsettling his doctor and a Make-a-Wish representative with increasingly disturbing "wishes", deliberately provoking the doctor into calling him a "devil child" and questioning his beliefs about "the essential goodness of children." ^[12]
• In the episode "Infamous" of Ninjago , the ninja go to a hospital to fulfill a wish made by a hospital patient through the Grant-a-Wish Foundation, a reference to Make-a-Wish.
• In Zac & Mia , a 2017 American romance teen drama web television series based on the novel of the same name, the titular character Zac uses the wish he received from Make-A-Wish to recreate prom for Mia after she initially forgoes her own due to her embarrassment over her current medical condition.
• Four children were guest-stars on the show Cake Boss in 2017, in which Buddy Valastro helped the four children make one-of-a-kind cakes before making a hot air balloon cake for a reception for a Make-A-Wish event. ^[13]
• In Survivor: San Juan del Sur , thirteen year-old Make-A-Wish child Austin Russell contributed a reward obstacle course as part of his wish. ^[14]
• In the musical Kimberly Akimbo , the titular character Kimberly Levaco, a sixteen-year-old with an unnamed disease that makes her age four and a half times as fast as normal, sends a letter to Make-A-Wish in a song aptly titled "Make-A-Wish", agonizing over what to wish for before settling on a treehouse.
• In 2022, Disney Cruise Line chose to christen all Make-A-Wish foundation children as the Godchildren of the newest ship in the Disney fleet, the Disney Wish . Previously ships were named after female characters and role models such as Tinker Bell, Jennifer Hudson and Mariah Carey.
• Seven-year-old Carter Lucero, a soccer fan supporting Minnesota United FC from Tucson, Arizona, suffers from cystic fibrosis. On 17 July 2024, his wish of scoring for his favorite soccer team came true, as he scored a goal before the start of Minnesota United's match against D.C. United at the Allianz Field. In addition to the goal, Lucero also signed a lifetime contract with the club. ^[15]

International affiliates

North & Central America

Make-A-Wish Canada

Make-A-Wish Mexico

Make-A-Wish Panama

South America

Make-A-Wish Argentina

Make-A-Wish Brazil

Make-A-Wish Chile

Make-A-Wish Colombia

Make-A-Wish Ecuador

Make-A-Wish Peru

Europe

Make-A-Wish Austria

Make-A-Wish Belgium South

Make-A-Wish Belgium-Vlaanderen

Make-A-Wish Denmark

Make-A-Wish France

Make-A-Wish Germany

Make-A-Wish Greece

Make-A-Wish Ireland

Make-A-Wish Italy

Make-A-Wish Netherlands

Make-A-Wish Norway

Make-A-Wish Portugal

Make-A-Wish Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Make-A-Wish Foundation UK

Central Asia & Middle East

Make-A-Wish Israel

Make-A-Wish Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Make-A-Wish Turkey

Make-A-Wish UAE

East & Southeast Asia

Make-A-Wish India

Make-A-Wish Indonesia

Make-A-Wish Hong Kong

Make-A-Wish Japan

Make-A-Wish Korea

Make-A-Wish Malaysia

Make-A-Wish Philippines

Make-A-Wish Shanghai

Make-A-Wish Singapore

Make-A-Wish Sri Lanka

Make-A-Wish Taiwan

Oceania

Make-A-Wish Australia

Make-A-Wish New Zealand

Africa

Make-A-Wish Tanzania

References

1. "National Leadership". wish.org. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
2. "Our History - Make-A-Wish America". 26 August 2025.
3. "Make-A-Wish around the world: More than 50 countries". 26 August 2025.
4. Sandy Cohen (2018-03-19). "John Cena shares his love for kids and how they inspire him". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
5. Traina, Jimmy (4 May 2020). "Pandemic Can't Stop John Cena From Continuing to Grant Wishes". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
6. "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Make-a-Wish Bankrupted by Unlimited Wishes". Snopes. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
7. "marcfennell".
8. "Chaser sketch 'may have been ripped off'". Archived from the original on 2009-06-06.
9. "Well wishes hub" . Retrieved 11 November 2023.
10. "Sick kids stunt earns Chaser 2-week ban". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 5 June 2009. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009.
11. "Batkid won our hearts. Now he's cancer free". The Washington Post . Retrieved 16 November 2018.
12. Key & Peele - Make-A-Wish, archived from the original on 2021-11-17, retrieved 2019-11-04
13. Buddy Valastro Helps Kids Make A Wish November 30, 2017.
14. "'Survivor' host Jeff Probst explains why he stopped that reward challenge". EW.com. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
15. "The heartwarming story of Tucson's Carter Lucero who has his Make-A-Wish granted". KGUN 9 Tucson News. 2024-07-19. Retrieved 2024-09-21.

External links

• Make-A-Wish of America
• Make-A-Wish International