My name is Emily Capisciolto, and I received a wish when I was just 11 years old. Both my cancer fight and my wish led me to where I am today: I am a nurse at the very same hospital where I received treatment. In honor of National Nurses Month, I wanted to personally share my story as a nurse – and share how supporters like you make a life-changing difference for kids growing up with critical illnesses. I should know – I was a wish kid myself.

As a kid, I was diagnosed with leukemia. Back then, my days were filled with hospitals, rounds of treatments and a lot of fear and uncertainty. But through it all, my nurses were always by my side – and so was Make-A-Wish®.

After I learned that my wish would be granted, I felt a renewed sense of hope and joy when I started thinking about the future. And then, on my wish day, I got the ultimate portable photo studio – including a DSLR camera and a laptop with editing software.

Wishes like mine just aren’t possible without the generosity of supporters like you, and I know that right now, thousands of kids just like me are currently waiting for their own life-changing wish. So please, will you make a gift today to grant more heartfelt wishes for kids facing critical illnesses?

Today, I sit by the bedside of kids going through diagnoses and treatments much like I did. Kids whose lives could be transformed just the way mine was by the power of a wish.

And because of my wish, in addition to being a nurse, I have been running a successful photography business on the weekends. I’ve gotten to capture and document joyful moments for hundreds of families. Those experiences may not have happened without Make-A-Wish, who gave me my first camera back then.

Both Make-A-Wish and my nurses gave me the strength, resilience and confidence I needed in the darkest, most uncertain days of my illness. And with so many kids still in need of a wish right now, you can help provide that same bright hope for other children – like the ones I see every day at the hospital where I work.

Please, in honor of National Nurses Month, will you make a life-changing gift to help provide more kids with the strength and hope they need to fight their illness? Your support is profoundly impactful.

Thank you,

Emily Capisciolto
Wish alum, cancer survivor and nurse