I entered the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Greater LA gala expecting the usual: schmoozing, some hors d’oeuvres and a glass of sparkling wine.
asserted
I → enter → wine
Instead, I left with mascara running down my face, and a number burned into my brain — $10,000.
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I → leave → brain
That’s what it costs to grant a single “wish” to a terminally ill child.
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it → ’ → child
About 500 wishes a year are granted via the LA metro area alone.
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wishes → grant → area
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Sign → sign → California
For those counting at home, that’s a lot of clams.
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that → count → clams
The foundation owes its origins to the story of Chris Greicius, a 7-year-old in Phoenix battling leukemia who wanted to be a police officer.
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who → owe → leukemia
The local department answered the call, and soon chapters of the new foundation, inspired by the story, were founded all over the country, and later the world.
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chapters → answer → country
Of course, the LA chapter channels the city’s glitz and glamour, hosting its gala among the dazzling towers of Century City.
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chapter → channel → City
The first wish-granter I encountered was Bill Fishel, a former board chair of the organization.
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I → encounter → organization
He came with his beautiful wife, a philanthropist, and three young sons, each decked out in tuxedos.
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He → come → tuxedos
I asked him which child’s story stayed with him the longest.
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story → ask → him
The answer signaled the heartstrings that’d be pulling all night.
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that → signal → heartstrings
“The ones we didn’t grant,” Fishel said, “that we couldn’t get to in time.
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we → grant → time
It breaks your heart.”
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It → break → heart
He was referring to ‘rush wishes,’ the calls that come in when a child’s time is running out, and the organization has to move fast.
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organization → refer → wishes
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The way it works: Volunteers sit down with the children and their parents and ask them about their dreams.
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Volunteers → download → dreams
After filling out a request form, the volunteers then have to find the funding to make the wish come true.
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wish → fill → funding
And what these kids ask will take your breath away.
Some may ask for trips to Disneyland and Hawaii, sure, but others’ desires are more selfless.
uncertain
desires → ask → Disneyland
One girl wished to fund a program at her school to help other kids have their wishes granted.
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wishes → wish → school
“A kid fighting for her own life, using her one wish to lift somebody else’s,” Fishel concluded.
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Fishel → fight → somebody
Sometimes the kids wish for things that are cute and funny.
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that → wish → things
Honoree Dana Guerin, founder of Guerin Children’s pediatric unit at Cedars-Sinai, said her favorite was a boy who wanted to go to an aquarium and smell a sea lion’s breath, because it was the worst smell imaginable.
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it → say → breath
Another: a kid who wanted to run a pickle factory.
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who → want → factory
At the event, I also met Kyla, a wish kid who is now doing wonderfully.
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who → meet → Kyla
Her wish was Disney World, and she told me all about it with a light in her eyes I wish I could bottle.
uncertain
I → tell → eyes
“I got to skip all the lines!”
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I → got → lines
At the other end of the spectrum was Kira, a 17-year-old living with a malignant brain tumor, who spoke onstage with her mother.
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who → live → mother
She wished to reunite with her grandparents in war-ravaged Ukraine.
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She → wish → Ukraine
Over the summer, her wish was granted.
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wish → grant → summer
These are the happiest stories in LA, and they’re happening because strangers kept showing up, dollar by dollar.
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strangers → happen → dollar
It struck me how many people there had lived the cause before they ever wrote a check for it.
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they → strike → it
This isn’t a charity that happens to you.
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that → happen → you
It’s a community you are a part of.
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you → ’ → ?
Figure skating legend Tara Lipinski has been carrying the cause since she was a teenager.
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she → carry → cause
Back then, she skated with a touring show that partnered with Make-A-Wish, and the wish kids would watch her skate.
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her → skate → Wish
“These small moments of joy make such a huge impact,” she said.
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she → make → impact
“It puts everything into perspective.”
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It → put → perspective
She’s right, and I’d add, from a healer’s chair — joy isn’t a luxury for a sick child.
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joy → ’ → child
It’s medicine — the part of treatment that doesn’t come with a co-pay.
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that → ’ → pay
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
