Make-A-Wish America

We feel lucky every day because of the incredible WishMakers in our community! 🍀 Your support ensures wish kids have the hope, joy and strength they need to fight their critical illness. 💙

Born with congenital heart disease, Avery endured countless surgeries, including a heart transplant at just 4 years old. During her recovery, she received exciting news: she was going to receive a wish! ✨ Now, nearly 15 years later, Avery still cherishes the memories from her wish, inspiring her to Wish-It-Forward as a Make-A-Wish intern and volunteer. “Make-A-Wish is important because it allows you to be a kid and to experience anything that you want to experience outside the hospital. If you just make one wish come true, you’re making a ton of other wishes come true [because] that one person is going to go on to help a lot of other children like them; that’s what my goal is.” – Avery 💙

In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, we’re proud to highlight Make-A-Wish co-founder Linda Pauling, whose son, Chris, inspired the founding of Make-A-Wish when his wish to be a police officer came true in 1980. We’re continually inspired by Linda and all the women around the world who support Make-A-Wish every day, as well as those who provide loving care for the many children with critical illnesses we support. Thank you for all you do!

This #EmployeeAppreciationDay, corporate gifting has never looked so sweet 🍪💫 Our friends at Sugarwish make showing your appreciation for your employees, vendors and partners easy, especially when your gratitude gives back to wish kids like KyLynn, who wished to go to Hawaii. Thanks to Sugarwish, KyLynn not only received the joyful news that her wish would be coming true this year, but was also given delectable treats for her and her family to celebrate. Thank you to our partner, Sugarwish, for your unyielding dedication to our mission.

Every wish granted gives a child hope for brighter days ahead. 💙 Thanks to your support, we granted over 16,200 wishes across the U.S. and its territories last year. Together, we create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. ✨

The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Weekend is all about legendary moments and, for our wish kids, this one was life-changing. From meeting their basketball heroes to experiencing the excitement up close, they had the ultimate All-Star experience. 🙌🏀 These are just a few of the moments that made this weekend special thanks to our partners at the NBA and Fanatics. 💙 #NBAAllStar #NBACares

Valentine’s Day is all about love, kindness and making memories with loved ones – and wish kids like Nia show us how it’s done! 💖 Living with a rare disease means Nia spends many long days in the hospital, away from her family and friends. But at home, she cherishes hosting tea parties with her family. So, when Nia learned she would be granted a wish, she combined her love of tea parties with her favorite family memory – her wish was to have high tea on the beach! 🫖🏖️ Nia spent her wish day laughing, running on the beach, twirling in her new dress, enjoying sweet tea and delicious treats, and beaming with joy as she made everlasting memories with her family. Nia’s wish empowered her to experience life beyond illness and filled her entire family with renewed hope for better days ahead. 💙

Kennedy’s wish was more than a business idea — it was a way to give back. 💙 Inspired by her own experience with congenital heart disease, she wished to create and sell headbands while gifting them to other kids facing heart conditions. “I know what it feels like to be in the hospital for a long time,” Kennedy shared. “I just wanted people to feel happy.” 🤗 #AmericanHeartMonth 💙 wish.org/heart

Still discussing which Super Bowl commercial was the best? Here's our take. 😉 The real highlight of the Super Bowl wasn’t the ads. It was the 19 wish kids experiencing their wishes come true! 🎉 Our wish kids had the best time meeting their favorite players, getting a behind-the-scenes stadium tour, and rocking custom merch from Fanatics. No matter who you root for, when a wish comes true, it’s always a win. 💙🏈

This #BlackHistoryMonth, we are celebrating wish kids like Idris, whose wish to be a train operator made history when it brought together WishMakers across the entire city of Chicago. As Make-A-Wish celebrates 45 years of wish granting in 2025, Black History Month reminds us of the diverse history of our wish community working together towards a common goal and shaping our vision to grant the wish of every eligible child.