The Make-A-Wish Foundation was founded in 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. A small group of people there helped a very ill little boy achieve his wish - to be a state trooper for a day. From that one wish made 28 years ago, more than 161,000 wishes have been granted throughout 65 chapters in the United States and in 33 countries around the world.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Pennsylvania and Southern West Virginia was founded in May 1983 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Bryan was a seven-year-old cancer patient who wanted to visit his favorite uncle in Texas for one of his famous piggy-back rides. Today, the chapter has granted more than 10,000 wishes and will soon grant its 11,000th wish. We are the first chapter in the world to fulfill more than 700 wishes in one year.

Wishes are as different as the children who dream them. Sure, a trip to Disney World is very popular, as are computers and shopping sprees. But how about playing hockey with Sidney Crosby? Or a chance to be appear in your favorite TV show? Or a visit to the Country Music Awards? Or your very piano? Children can wish for anything from a Caribbean cruise to being a superhero for a day. We put few parameters on wishes, encouraging kids to use their imagination and "think outside the box." It has been our experience, and that of many health professionals, that wishes are an integral part of the healing process and help a sick child forget the illness, hospitals, treatments and shots and just be a kid again. We give them a chance to dream, plan, anticipate, experience and remember.