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My name is Sarah Pontius, and I've been involved
with Make-A-Wish for about four years.
I have a sister who's a year older than I am,
and she had Hodgkin's lymphoma.
She was put on the pediatric floor for her treatments
at times, and I saw Make-A-Wish granters coming in and meeting
with some of the children, and that was my first exposure,
and I thought, this is an incredible organization.
I joined the advisory board, and, more recently,
I've joined the board of directors.
Most importantly for me, I'm a wish granter.
Make-A-Wish has granted
over 400,000 wishes in the past 36 years.
The wishes that we grant come in all shapes and sizes,
all different types of requests.
There are, there's wishes that are,
I'd like a swing set in my backyard.
I would like a remote-controlled car.
I met with a child who said, "I've never been to the ocean.
I would love to go to see a beach."
She looked over at her parents and said, "Well,
I've always wanted to go to the Caribbean,
but I know that that's expensive."
And I said, oh, it's such a great feeling to say,
"No, this is your wish."
And her mom called me after we left and she said,
"This is the first time she's been excited about something.
I have missed this in my daughter so much."
There's been studies that have been done that show the impact,
the positive impact that a wish has on a child
and how it can help both psychologically and physically.
Our wish children are so inspirational,
so strong, so courageous.
I will always be and will continue
to be forever grateful to them.
I tell anyone who's thinking about becoming involved
in Make-A-Wish, if you have just a little bit of time or,
you know, can make a donation or get involved in any way,
it will change your life.
It certainly has changed mine.