Meet Nick Ghiz: A Decade of Wishes and Giving Back
For Nick Ghiz, giving back has never been about filling spare time. It is about what he wants to do with the time he has.
“What do you want your legacy to be?” Nick said. “Do I want to live my life with some meaning and some purpose, and hopefully leave it a little bit better than I found it?”
It is a question that has shaped nearly a decade of Nick’s life as a Make-A-Wish Arizona volunteer, one wish at a time.
Nick grew up understanding the importance of giving back, a value that eventually inspired him to find his own way to help others. He found that opportunity in 2016, when he signed up for Make-A-Wish volunteer training and became a wish granter.
Before long, Nick was helping make his first wish come true for a child who dreamed of returning to his favorite summer camp. Though nervous and unsure of what to expect, Nick still remembers the joy of watching the wish come together.
Not only did it bring them a lot of joy, but it brought me a lot of joy and made me want to keep granting wishes.
And he did.
Ten years later, Nick has helped grant 58 wishes for children with critical illnesses across Arizona, from visiting Disneyland® Resort and traveling across the world, scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef.
For someone who describes himself as a “pretty cut and dry guy,” his favorite part of the wish process is equally straightforward: the approval.
“I like the approval because that means they’re going to have their wish,” he said.
Behind that simple moment is the promise of something much bigger.
Nick has seen how critical illness can reshape everyday life for an entire family. A wish gives families something joyful to look forward to and creates space for a child to simply be a kid again.
“I think it provides a sense of normalcy,” Nick said. “It gives them an outlet to get out of the day-to-day of whatever they’re going through.”
Wish after wish, those experiences have also changed the way Nick sees his own life.
“Life is all about perspective,” Nick said. “When you’re involved in a wish, or anything philanthropic for that matter, it really humbles you and makes you realize how blessed and fortunate you are just to be healthy and to have the life you have.”
A decade after taking that first step, Nick continues to find joy in helping make wishes possible. With every wish, he has the opportunity to bring hope to a family and carry a little of that joy with him, too.
It’s changed my life immensely, and it keeps changing it every time I help grant a wish.