Make-A-Wish Foundation® International and Affiliates

The Beginnings of Make-A-Wish^® and Make-A-Wish Foundation^® International 

Make-A-Wish^® is the largest wish-granting charity in the world, with more than 36 international affiliates. We also formed Make-A-Wish Foundation^®International, to make an overall plan on our services. With the help of generous donors and volunteers, the Make-A-Wish^® has granted 7,257 wishes to children in 2009.                                                                                          

Make-A-Wish^® began in the USA in 1980, aims at granting wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses to enrich their lives with hope, strength, and joy after the fulfillment of the first wish. At that time, a 7-year-old American boy, Christopher Greicius, afflicted with leukemia wished that he could become a policeman. As a result of several caring individuals, the officers of the Public Security Department of the State of Arizona helped make his wish come true on 29 April 1980. The little boy was given his very own police uniform and badge and got to ride in the police car, as well as circle around the town in a helicopter.

Those who helped to make the boy’s wish come true hoped that other children with serious illnesses could also experience the same kind of happiness of having a wish come true. And so they set up Make-A-Wish^®. Their convictions in helping the terminally ill feel better, gradually gained positive feedback from other countries around the world. Since 1998, Make-A-Wish Foundation^® International has chosen April 29 as “the World Wish Day”.

Make-A-Wish^® can now be found in more than 36 countries and territories around the world. To get more information about a particular country, please select a country / district name below:

For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation^® International, please visit http://www.worldwish.org.