Children’s Wish Foundation lottery deadline draws near

Gay Oldhaver of the Saskatchewan chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation says this year’s lottery is underway, with an early bird deadline of Oct. 1 and a final ticket deadline of Oct. 16. The final draws for cash and prizes will be made Oct. 28. The grand prize is $1 million.

All the proceeds from the Saskatchewan chapter lottery stay in Saskatchewan and go toward making the wishes of Saskatchewan children come true.

Wishes can be granted to any child with a life-threatening or high-risk condition. While anyone can refer a child, the child’s parents or legal guardians must agree. Most referrals come from medical teams or family.

The organization does everything it can to make a wish come true once it has been determined a child is eligible.

Eligibility is based on diagnosis and it is not income-related. Oldhaver says eligibility requirements are always under review in response to changes in medical treatment. The criteria has been expanded to include a new population of neurological disorders, says Oldhaver.

She points out it’s important to keep pace with changes in medical world by regularly reviewing and renewing its policies regarding wish granting.

 What, 20 years ago, might have been a life-threatening or critical condition may nowadays be much less serious, she says.

The new criteria moves into a new level of chronic long term illness, such as cerebral palsy, says Oldhaver.

The expansion of criteria, of course, has opened up a greater need in funding, she adds.

The Saskatchewan Chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation has been granting wishes since 1986.

In that time, 48 wishes have been granted to children in the North Battleford area. Three of those are still in the process, says Oldhaver.

The most recent wish to be completed in the area was for a Turtleford child who wanted a camping trailer so she and her family could camp in the summer.

To receive a camping trailers has actually been a popular wish item, says Oldhaver.

To help make the foundation’s work more real to the public, some of the children who are granted wishes, along with their families, agree to have their stories made available.

Among those children this year is Evan V. of Denzil. Evan is 16, a ball player and a sports enthusiast.

Cystic fibrosis is constantly trying to steal Evan’s ability to breathe, so a wish that included the Hockey Hall of Fame and a weekend with the Blue Jays was the perfect way for the Children’s Wish Foundation to show the world that “this kid’s got game!”

Garrett, from Duck Lake, had a dream to be on a list of NHL stars.

When the Maple Leafs signed him to a one-day contract, he found himself surrounded by his hockey heroes, and his smile and positive attitude made him the inspirational leader of the locker room.