In 2002, Matthew was a 5-year-old boy who lived in Benicia and had boundless energy and curiosity. Pretty typical, but what set him apart from most boys his age was his heart condition called subaortic stenosis, requiring three open-heart surgeries. Matt's condition didn't stop him from doing some of his favorite activities like watching cartoons (especially Spiderman), eating lots of chocolate ice cream and pizza, playing with Legos, and cheering on his favorite baseball player, Barry Bonds. When he learned he could have a wish, young Matthew had no problem articulating what he wanted more than anything: he wanted to go to New York and visit his Uncle Lucas who lives in Brooklyn. Matthew was very close to his uncle, who was by his side during his recovery from surgery. Eighteen months prior, Uncle Lucas had moved to Brooklyn to work with autistic children, and Matthew missed him terribly. In November 2002, Matthew got his wish and traveled to New York to see the city lights, snowy streets, and his favorite uncle, Lucas! Together, they visited thrilling places such as the Intrepid Air and Space Museum, the Empire State Building, Madame Tussaud’s, and the famous FAO Schwarz. Besides all the quality time with his uncle, the highlight of Matthew's trip was seeing The Lion King on Broadway.

Make-A-Wish Greater Bay area celebrated the 3,000th wish with a San Francisco party before sending Matthew across the United States to New York. When Matthew and his family arrived at the San Francisco International Airport, they were greeted by a special guest—Spider-Man, Matthew's favorite! Then the San Francisco Mayor’s office presented a proclamation honoring 3,000 wishes granted for the chapter. For lunch, it was Matthew’s favorites...Domino’s Pizza and Ben & Jerry’s chocolate ice cream.

"As the Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area's 3000th wish granted, I fully enjoyed all the extra attention that came with celebrating number 3000: The airport party wish send-off with Spider-Man, the Mayoral Declaration from Willie Brown, the limo picking me and my family up to attend the annual board meeting, and then again for the lighting of the Ritz Carlton Christmas Wreath...all much to the discomfort of my introverted family members who were forced to tag along with me. My wish to visit my favorite uncle in New York was amazing. Make-A-Wish arranged many memorable and one-of-a-kind experiences that I still remember to this day!  

"After my wish trip, life for me progressed fairly normally. All the planned surgeries for my heart condition were done. I still visit the hospital every 6 months and fortunately have had no surprises. I enjoyed grade school and high school. Even though I was highly focused on school, I was still able to enjoy other activities like volleyball and student government. I liked learning about the brain and went to college to study neuroscience with thoughts of becoming a doctor. However, when it was pointed out to me that I look away while watching episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, I began to realize medicine might not be in the cards for me. As a kid I had joked that my dream job would be to host a ‘late night’ show like Conan or Colbert. I spent many nights listening to stand-up comedians to help me relax and fall asleep. I knew stand-up was how many ‘late night’ hosts got started and there was a stand-up club at my college, so in my sophomore year I joined and gave it a try. Despite the on-stage anxiety, I really enjoyed performing on stage. My senior year, I was able to land internships in entertainment that after navigating all the disruption of the pandemic ultimately led to moving to LA and being selected for the NBC Page program. I now have a day job with NBC and perform stand-up multiple nights a week and produce a monthly comedy show with a friend. My heart condition and my Make-A-Wish experience are prominent themes in my material that audiences love. Although I now joke that my wish was just 'an average family vacation,' it was exactly what we all needed to lift our spirits and remind us how wonderful life can be."