Make-A-Wish Canada is partnering with Blue Cross to help make more children’s dreams come true.
Blue cross will provide wish kids and their families with travel insurance for the next five years. It is the largest gift ever committed to Make-A-Wish Canada.
Meaghan Stovel McKnight, CEO for Make-A-Wish Canada, said that the partnership allows the families of wish kids to have peace of mind while their children’s wishes are being granted.
“So often, our children and their families have battled critical illnesses and are continuing to live with the realities and challenges of that. Traveling without travel insurance is just not an option, and many of these families would be unable to get any type of travel insurance to even leave the country,” said Stovel McKnight. “Blue Cross committing to cover their insurance is really providing these kids with what could otherwise be the impossible.”
Around 70 percent of wishes that are granted involve some form of travel, whether it be a tropical vacation, going to Disney World, or travelling to meet their favourite celebrity. Having Travel insurance means that parents know they can safely access care for their child if they should need it, free of charge.
The announcement comes just ahead of tomorrow’s World Wish Day, celebrating the first wish that was granted. It also marks 40 years since the first wish was granted in Canada. Last year, the charity announced they will offer travel to the United States for the first time since the pandemic. This year, Make-A-Wish Canada announced that wishes involving international travel outside of Canada or the US will be available once again.
“The point of a wish is to identify the most heartfelt desire of that child and we have many kids who have been waiting quite a long time to be able to realize their wish, which included travel to destinations in the Caribbean, Europe and Asia,” said Stovel McKnight.
Blue Cross and Make-A-Wish have had a long-standing partnership. For 30 years they’ve provided travel insurance to wish kids and their families and have donated funding to different initiatives over the years. This agreement however, is the first time that the two groups will have a long-term deal in place to support families with travel insurance.
Stovel McKnight says that the partnership couldn’t have come at a better time.
“We are forecasting very significant growth in wish delivery over the next five years. We have 4,000 kids waiting for wishes across Canada and a lot of those wishes have been delayed as a result of a pandemic,” said Stovel McKnight.
She says she can’t wait to help make those kids’ wishes come true.
