Raylin enjoyed a week on the beautiful island of Oahu.

Make-A-Wish is fortunate to have a relationship with the Sheraton Waikiki where wish families enjoy staying right on the beach. Raylin and her family covered many of the top things to do in Hawaii, including attending a Luau, swimming with dolphins and sailing on a catamaran.

Hawaii wishes are one of our top travel wish requests. When a child’s wish involves travel to another state or country with its own Make-A-Wish chapter, we work together to ensure each child has a wonderful experience. These are called Wish Assists. Make-A-Wish Iowa has even been called upon to be a wish assist chapter, often during in-person celebrity wishes that align with tour dates and wish family schedules.

While each Make-A-Wish chapter has their own local board and local regulations, Make-A-Wish National has set some guiding principles for chapter wish assists:

Wish Assist Guiding Principles:

In conjunction with the National Office, our top six destination chapters and the top 3 travel chapters, we have developed a set of guiding principles for our wish assist program. Chapters, both originating and assisting, should keep these principles in mind when working on a wish assist.

  • We treat all wish kids as if they are our local wish kids, regardless of their hometown.
  • We strive for equitable wish experiences for all wish children.
  • We treat our Make-A-Wish colleagues with professional courtesy.
  • We act as a team, working toward the same goal.
  • We will create a sustainable wish assist program that is adequately resourced and “cost neutral” for destination chapters.

Even though we have different chapters, we all share the same mission:

Together we create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.

Thank you for making wishes like Raylin’s come true!