Last year, we celebrated our chapter’s 35th Anniversary and granted more than 350 life-changing wishes for local children with critical illnesses. 

As one of the largest, most productive Make-A-Wish chapters nationwide with generous donors and dedicated volunteers, we prided ourselves on always being able to grant wishes as they were referred. We looked with hope toward the future and had an ambitious plan for how to reach even more children in our large territory. 

They say life happens while you’re making other plans, and that’s never felt truer than this past month. This year, we’re facing a challenge unlike any we’ve experienced in our 35-year history. Normally our wish-granting team would be heading into their busiest and most rewarding time of the year—planning and granting spring and summer travel wishes to Disney World, Hawaii, Paris, and Tokyo. Pulling off Quinceañera parties with hundreds of guests and assisting with wishes to go to a Warriors game or visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Bringing workers in to donate their time and expertise for backyard and bedroom makeovers. 

Instead, they’ve had the painful task of communicating to families that their wishes have been postponed for the indefinite future. They’ve been busy canceling flights, hotel reservations, and venue bookings. Putting everything on hold until it’s safe out there again for our wish families. 

We now have more than 40 wishes waiting, including 9-year-old Ivy’s wish. After an 8-month battle with cancer where she was in and out of the hospital, Ivy completed her last round of chemotherapy in January and was so excited to go to London and visit the Harry Potter Museum this month. Now, she will have to wait a little longer. 

We’re far from alone in experiencing unprecedented challenges during this global pandemic. In a way, the entire world has become a wish family—we’ve received a terrible diagnosis and must put ordinary concerns aside as we face a new and sometimes terrifying reality. During a time like this, I take even more inspiration from our wish kids and their extraordinary resilience. Like them and for them, we will move forward with as much courage and grace as possible under the most difficult of circumstances. There simply is no other option. 

In addition to postponing wishes, our team is still taking and processing wish referrals—and I encourage anyone who knows of a waiting wish to keep those referrals coming. We will grant those waiting wishes! Our hard-working volunteers are also now being trained to discover children’s true wishes virtually. 

The world needs some hope and joy right now, and fortunately Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area is in the hope and joy business. Our staff and volunteers work every day to make the impossible possible. There are few experiences more powerful than making a wish come true, for everyone involved. We might be waiting a little longer to grant some of our wishes, but we’re still committed to sharing the life-changing power of a wish with as many people as possible. 

I invite you to join us, if you can, in bringing some light to our waiting wish kids by creating and sharing a Message of Hope. It’s easy to do and will bring some much-needed joy to them, to you, and to our Make-A-Wish team too! Here are the steps: 

STEP 1: Create a message, video, photo, song, dance—whatever you can imagine—sharing a message of hope. 

STEP 2: Post to any social media channel, tag @SFWish (Twitter and Facebook) or @MakeAWishSF (Instagram) and use the hashtag, #WishesAreWaiting. If you like, you can also tag @MakeAWish (@MakeAWishAmerica on Instagram). 

STEP 3: Tag and challenge two or more of your friends to join in. Share the web page: wish.org/messages-of-hope 

Please check out the Messages of Hope feed for some inspiration and some smiles. I’d love to see some of your faces there soon! 

On behalf of the children and families we serve, thank you for your ongoing support. I hope you are staying safe and taking good care of yourselves and your loved ones. 

With gratitude, 

 Betsy