The Daily O’Collegian

It isn’t often that college students have a chance to make a child’s wish come true.

If they intern at Make-a-Wish, though, students can change lives.

The Make-a-Wish Foundation has provided genuine thrills for children ages 2 1/2 through 18 since the organization began in Arizona in 1980, according to www.wish.org, the foundation’s Web site.

Make-a-Wish of Oklahoma has granted more than 100 wishes each year for the past two years across the state,  Cherry Murray, public relations coordinator, said. Murray is public relations coordinator for the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City.

Although the majority of the wishes come from the Tulsa and Oklahoma City metropolitan areas, Murray said  the foundation granted 15 wishes to children in Payne County during the past eight years.

Public exposure is part of the reason for the concentrated numbers. Murray said there is more publicity in the larger cities and, because of this, families in other parts of the state are generally unaware of the foundation’s services.

“What we want people to know is how other people can get involved,” Murray said.

There are many ways for individuals to involve themselves with the Make-a-Wish Foundation, including  being the wish granter, a popular choice.

“Wish granters are volunteers that go meet with families and find out what their wish is,” Murray said.

The foundation has internships available, which college students usually fill.

“[As an intern] you really get to touch every part of the organization,” Murray said.

Although wishes vary from child to child, there are some general trends.

Jane Rohweder, public relations director at the Tulsa office, said one of the most popular requests is a trip to Disneyworld in Orlando, Fla.

Obviously, wishes have a positive effect on the children they are granted to, but the effects don’t stop there.

“What a wish brings to a child battling a life-threatening illness is so uplifting,” Rohweder said. “It gives them a sense of hope, strength and joy. It brings a child back happiness.”

Money for wishes comes from several sources.  Corporate donations and fundraisers are two of the most common contributions, but there are many other ways to help.

The Chi Omega Fraternity recently raised $10,000 for the Oklahoma Make-a-Wish Foundation.

The average wish costs about $6,500.

Upcoming fundraisers include the third annual Lexus Raffle, with each $100 ticket entering participants in a drawing for a 2008 Lexus LX, and a Radio-a-thon during the week of Nov. 12, when the KRMG radio station in Tulsa accepts song requests and donations.

Additional information on these, and other, events can be found on the Oklahoma Make-A-Wish foundation’s Web site, http://www.oklahoma.wish.org.

“We do these wishes to provide faith, hope and joy,” Murray said. “We just want people to know  that we are here.”