Wishes
The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee grants between 80 and 100 wishes each year, but each wish begins as a single unique idea or dream from a child that completes one of these sentences:
I wish to go . . .
I wish to have . . .
I wish to meet . . .
I wish to be . . .
When we ask a child what they might wish for, we open up a world of possibilities for the children and ask them to dream the unimaginable. And then we make the impossible come true. Wishes help a sick child forget their medical condition, hospitals, treatments and shots. Wishes let them just be a kid again. Wishing gives children a chance to dream, plan, anticipate, experience and remember. Click here to learn more about some of our recent wishes.
Who is Eligible for a Wish?
Any child older than 2 1/2 and younger than 18 at the time of referral is eligible if the child has been determined by a physician to have a life-threatening medical condition and has not been granted a previous wish. Make-A-Wish grants wishes to all eligible children regardless of race, religion, or economic status.
How Wishes Happen:
2. The next step is to complete the Referral Form and Medical Authorization form which we send to the child's physician to complete. The child's treating physician makes the final determination of whether the child is medically eligible to receive a wish.
3. If the child is deemed eligible, two trained wish granters will contact the wish family to arrange for a personal visit to determine the child's wish, along with an alternate wish in case the child's first wish cannot be granted.
4. Wish granters will stay in touch with the family as they plan the wish, and with the help of community members, and sometimes magical intervention, wish granters dream up surprises, seek donations, organize itineraries and set dates.
5. On the day the wish begins or takes place, the family sits back and enjoys the moment as the wish unfolds.
