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A Wish Come True is an organization that is very near and dear to my heart. The work they do gives children and their families moments to remember forever that bring them closer together and help them support each other during difficult times. If you’ve had a sick child, you’re aware of how naturally the focus can shift to the illness itself and how much time and energy an illness can consume, leaving the whole family stressed out and even leading to severe family issues in some cases. A Wish Come True gives these families something to look forward to and an opportunity to heal together uniquely.

I understand and support these objectives especially because of my personal experience watching families deal with serious illnesses. A Wish Come True supports many kids with life threatening illnesses that mean countless doctor visits, clinical trials, and medical treatments. The nurses who cared for these kids are amazing. They are so helpful, knowledgeable, and caring – and one, in particular, took such diligent care of the kids that I was inspired to make a sizable monetary donation to launching a program designed to help families with problems like ours.

Through A Wish Come True, I learned about an 18-year-old boy named Donald who had suffered many recent medical challenges. Enduring a serious illness is scary, stressful, and exhausting. I wanted to do something for this special family to give them a break from the constant fear and stress of his illness, so I sponsored Donald’s wish to visit Disney World with his family.

Looking forward to this week-long trip with his family to Disney World helped Donald get through some tough days and nights. I also had the opportunity to see photos from the trip of Donald and his family; they had a fantastic week, filled with fun and laughter. They got to spend some precious time together – and when your child is sick, or you are sick, you understand that “precious time” takes on a whole new meaning. Deciding to sponsor this trip for Donald was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done, and I did it out of gratitude for the care my family has received as well as an understanding of how much it can help when someone goes the extra mile for you. Knowing what I know about life threatening illnesses as a parent, I wanted to make sure that I did my part to help other families get the extra support they need and some special treats to make a very challenging time a little easier.

In fact, I think this can be explained very easily with the Golden Rule. I believe that everyone should treat people the way they want to be treated. I practice this primarily with my family and strive to extend this philosophy to all the other people in my life as well. I started out without many opportunities, and I resolved to do whatever I could to provide my children with everything they needed to get started on their paths to success. However, it doesn’t end there. I want all families with children enduring serious illness to have the same opportunities.