For the 23rd year in a row, the Saskatchewan Children's Wish Foundation is looking to fulfill wishes.
Since coming to Saskatchewan 26 years ago, the Children's Wish Foundation has worked steadily, fulfilling 800 wishes for children who have gone or will go through a life-threatening or high-risk illness. The wishes are financed by the yearly Children's Wish Home Lottery, which this year has a show home, vehicles, boats, vacations and cash as available prizes. Winners will be given a choice of prize and will always be able to take cash instead of the prize itself.
The wishes offered by the Children's Wish Foundation are almost entirely funded by the lottery. With about 70 wishes in the works right now, the organization requires strong support to fulfill as many wishes as possible. Wishes generally fall into one of three categories for the organization. They can be travel-, item- or celebrity-related.
This could mean everything from a trip to Disneyland to a camping trailer, a VIP pass to Comic-Con or a heli-biking trip. One young man from Melfort, after having been through rounds of chemotherapy for leukemia, was given a growing dome that would allow him to grow food during the winter. The process of working the dirt proved to be a therapeutic one.
The Children's Wish Foundation stresses that wishes are not only given to terminal patients, but to any child with a life-threatening or high-risk condition. It relies on doctor diagnoses, but does not solicit, only finding its clients through word-of-mouth. The only criterion for receiving a wish is eligibility; the organization does everything it can to make a wish come true once it has been determined a child is eligible.
The Children's Wish Foundation can be reached toll-free at 1-800-267-WISH (9474), on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ChildrensWishSK. There is different contact information for the Wish Home Lottery, however. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 1-800-661-WISH (9474) or online at www.wishhomelottery.ca.
