The 21st Annual Children's Wish Foundation Wish Home Lottery is now underway in the province, with each ticket helping grant the wish of a Saskatchewan child with a life-threatening illness.
The grand prize winner will receive his or her choice of one of 13 show homes around the province or $650,000 cash. A number of runner-up vacation and cash prizes will also be drawn.
Carla Loney-Tindall, director of the Saskatchewan chapter of the Children's Wish Foundation, recently stopped in Yorkton to speak about the lottery and the organization.
"I always feel like we're missing wish kids," she says. "So as I go out on this provincial tour, you cannot believe how many new wishes we start just because we get the story out."
One of the main obstacles preventing families from accepting wishes from the foundation, explains Loney-Tindall, is a myth that the wishes are only for children with terminal diagnoses. Some parents might feel that having their child's wish granted means giving up.
"It's important for people to realize that that isn't the reality," Loney-Tindall says. Although some wish kids lose the battle with their illness, for many more the wish is simply a bright spot during a dark period of their lives.
In the Yorkton area alone, the Wish Foundation has granted nearly 20 wishes over its 24-year history in the province. Among the recipients are the Wasson family of Melville; their sons Cody and Zander both have a life-threatening genetic heart disease.
Earlier this year, nine-year-old Cody had his wish granted for a Disney cruise through the Caribbean with the whole family. Next year, four-year-old Zander and the foundation will take the family on another cruise, this one with a Nickelodeon theme.
"The biggest thing that I like about the Wish Foundation is that they do not hide," says Kevin Wasson, Cody and Zander's father. "A lot of organizations, you can go and and ask for help and they will give it, but the Children's Wish Foundation actually looks for people that they can help. They're an incredible organization."
The positive effect of the wishes can be seen around the house on a daily basis, Wasson says."It just keeps them going. Zander gets up virtually every morning and says, 'Are we going on the big ship today?'"
Vacation wishes, one of the most common types granted by the foundation, are a blessing for parents as well. Wasson has the same genetic condition as his sons, and the combined stress takes its toll.
"I've spent the majority of the last five years in the hospital, and a lot of it has been on my wife. On these cruises, they have people that take care of the kids. You can drop your kids off and go and have a nice quiet supper. It's a big help, because you can finally kick your feet up."
Wasson's sons can't always do all the things that other children can do, but having their wishes granted has provided them with some truly special opportunities.
"I don't know how to put it in words how good the Wish Foundation actually is, and how much nicer they've made our lives," Wasson says.
Tickets for the Children's Wish Home Lottery can be ordered by calling 1-800-661-WISH or by visiting www.wishhomelottery.ca.
