I’ve always wondered this - why isn’t there some sort of “Make a Wish” foundation for adults with terminal diseases? It seems that many/most of the Make-a-wish requests by children are incredibly elaborate and far-fetched, requiring tons of wrangling, planning, and money to fulfill; “I’d like to be in this movie” or “I’d like to meet this famous person” are on the simpler side of most wishes for children.
I imagine that this is because children are naturally more fanciful and less pragmatic than adults. Wouldn’t an adult make-a-wish program be easier to implement? I imagine that many of the “wishes” would be fairly pragmatic and easy to fulfill - “I’ve always wanted to take a trip to Tokyo” or “I’d like to be a passenger in an F-14” rather than “I want to go to the moon” or “I want to meet George Lucas.”
That’s a great idea for you to start one…and fund it initially from your fortune!
Perhaps a few want something big. Most of those I have had contact with want to go to Disney Land/World, or another major theme park. Others want to have something to doe with a personal connection such as their idol or star.
I’m sure they’d get tired of explaining, “No, we’re not going to ask Movie Star X if they want to have sex with you.”
Seems ‘Make a Wish’ is some token consolation for those facing death tragically prematurely. If you’re an adult, you know it’s coming sooner or later, what makes you special? Too tough to decide who deserves it, really. Life itself, Is of course, invariably fatal.
If I got one of them last wishes, it would be for the opportunity to pop out of my coffin and freak everybody out. Fake premature funeral wouldn’t be too hard to arrange, would it?
Because drugs are bad, m’kay? And prostitutes are bad, m’kay?
Really, if an adult has something fatal, they can just grab a gun and be their own make a wish foundation. What are they going to do, give you life in prison? Put you on death row? Hah, what a bargain!
If you’ve got the cash, there’s always Rio and Tijuana. That’s if you just want to party until the candle goes out, though.
Because kids make better poster children than adults. People have more sympathy for kids dying before their time than adults who are, because even if the latter’s time has been cut short, it hasn’t been cut as short as the kid’s. More sympathetic recipients = more donation money. I don’t think people would be as willing to give money to older people.
I don’t think all adults’ fantasies would be so easy to fulfill. Right now if I were dying my wish would be to live rent-free for a year in a really nice city like Boston or San Francisco. That’s not too cheap a desire.
Also, most adults have the ability to make their own dreams come true, at least those ones involving travel. Most adults also don’t have aspirations to meet celebrities, since we realize that they’re just people like we are.
I do know of at least one. http://www.makingmemories.org/ It’s for people with terminal breast cancer to fufill their last wishes, or make their remaining time more memorable/meaningful. A lot of people take their kids to disneyland, but one guy wanted to put out an informational brochure about how it was possible for men to also get breast cancer, and how to look for it, etc.
I used to work with a guy who started a make-a-wish organization here in Madison serving adults with AIDS. It doesn’t appear to have a website but it’s mentioned in some gay guides to the city so apparently it’s still active.