What a great connection. They have both been around for about 25 years. While SportsCenter has managed to change the way people view sports, Make-A-Wish has also been busy bringing hope, strength, and joy to children living with life-threatening medical conditions. You may wonder what one has to do with the other. Well, ESPN is featuring a summer series called ‘My Wish,’ working collaboratively with the Make-A-Wish Foundation as they chronicle unique sports-related wishes of 10 children. They are sharing the stories of one child each day from July 9th to July 23rd. If you don’t have ESPN or you’ve missed the first few, you can check them out here.
Many of you already know that Jason and I absolutely love the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Kids should not get sick. They should not suffer the physical and emotional pains that come hand-in-hand with life-threatening illnesses. This is one of those things that is just not fair about life.
Jason and I are trying to help children have better childhoods. We are trying to protect children from the many things that inevitably jeopardize their happy childhood, whether it’s illness, lack of food and water, compromised personal safety, lack of family, or even a rough beginning due to their unplanned birth.
A few years ago Jason and I selected MAW to be one of the Big 6 charities that we support through The Lemonade Stand sales. It’s a great thing to give money, but I think it’s an even greater gift to give your time. So, a few years ago Jason and I were trained as ‘wish granters.’ This is the best volunteer position in the world. I would highly recommend it to anyone. You can read more about our experiences as wish granters here and here.
Amidst the wicked heat we’ve been having the last few days, it’s important to try to maintain proper perspective. Instead of feeling sorry about the many things I wish were different in my life, seeing these ESPN segments have helped me to realize just how blessed I am.
I encourage you to take a minute to read or watch a wish child’s story. The wish children are not the only ones receiving hope, strength and joy from these wishes.
[tags]Make-A-Wish,ESPN,SportsCenter[/tags]