My name is Grant, and supporters like you helped make my sister’s wish come true while she was facing cancer.

Isabella and I would do everything together. She was my best friend. When she would get home from the hospital, I was the first person she wanted to see. And I can tell you firsthand how life-changing her wish experience truly was. Wishes don’t just give kids like Isabella hope – they give entire families hope.

I remember moments when Isabella was lying in her hospital bed and couldn’t move because of her treatments. But then, my parents would say, “In four days, we’re going to your favorite theme park.” She would smile and say, “I’m so excited” – and that would be all she could say all day. But she still felt like she could do anything because she knew her wish day was coming.

Here’s the thing, though: It takes a lot of time and planning to bring a wish to life, and it’s tough to think about the thousands of kids like my sister who are still waiting for theirs to come true. So today, I hope you’ll take just a minute to be a source of comfort and support for them. Make-A-Wish^® is looking for 5,000 signatures on a special card for kids who are still in need of a wish, and I’m asking you to add your name.

Please, will you sign the card now to let waiting wish kids know that this Make-A-Wish community is right by their side and sending them strength?

When Isabella was just 2, she told my parents that she had a pain in her back. At first, my parents just thought maybe what she really wanted was to hear a bedtime story – something more serious was unthinkable. But the pain got worse, and when they brought her to the hospital, the doctors found a tumor the size of an orange.

For the first few years after her cancer diagnosis, her condition was steady. But then, the cancer spread up her spine and into her brain. That’s when we packed up and moved to be closer to where she was receiving treatments – and that particular stretch of treatments was really hard for her. I remember that she would get home from chemotherapy, and she would be vomiting and wouldn’t have the energy to move.

But through it all, Isabella was absolutely infatuated with princesses. It was an everyday topic of conversation. She would wear a tiara around the hospital, and she even dyed her hair red to match her favorite princess.

So when we got to go to her favorite theme park and meet all of the characters, it was the best experience of our lives. To Isabella, it was the greatest place on Earth. I remember watching fireworks together, and she leaned over to me and said, “Dreams really do come true.”

But right now, there are so many other kids waiting for their own dreams to come true as they go through difficult medical treatments. That’s why I’m counting on you to be one of the 5,000 signatures on the special card that Make-A-Wish put together to send the kids comfort while they wait.

Please, I hope you’ll sign the card now to share your support with kids who are waiting for wishes. It will only take a minute or two, and it will make a big difference.

Isabella’s wish experience is something that I’ll hold on to for the rest of my life. It was a chance to not worry about anything else and just be brother and sister – to just be best friends. It changed my life, and I know it changed hers. 

Thank you for everything you do to make these wishes possible.

Grant Santos