To meet their favorite singer. To pitch at a professional baseball game. To take the trip of a lifetime. Every child has a dream. The Sunshine Foundation of Canada, founded in 1987 by an Ontario police officer after the death of his son due to muscular dystrophy, is dedicated to taking the dreams of children and making them come true. The Sunshine Foundation is the only national Canadian charitable foundation which provides dream fulfillment to children who have life-threatening illnesses or children who have severe physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy or spina bifida. Like all children, these children with life-threatening illnesses or special needs have dreams, hopes, and wishes–and the Sunshine Foundation wants to make them come true.
Every child has a dream—but what do they dream? The Sunshine Foundation has fulfilled dreams both big and small for the children whose lives it has touched—whether that dream was from a child with a disability who wanted nothing more than to have a disability-adapted tricycle or the dream of a boy who wanted to dance with Cinderella at Walt Disney World. The power of dreams cannot be overstated. A trip, a bike, a chance meeting with a favorite Disney character—for children with disabilities or life threatening illnesses, these fulfilled dreams are a ray of sunshine in a life that otherwise might be filled with endless doctor’s appointments, surgeries, therapies, and frustrating limitations. For children who are not used to experiencing such wonderful moments, a dream come true—such as an elephant in their back yard or a trip to New York City’s fashion hot spots—will fill them with enough memories and good feelings to last them a life time.
Even more special than their individual dream fulfillments are the Sunshine Foundation’s “DreamLift” trips. The “DreamLift” trips are special trips which transport a plane of children with a dream to a special and fun destination for an exciting trip of a lifetime and back. These DreamLift trips are well-organized and staffed with experienced volunteers and medical staff that help ensure that children with illnesses or disabilities have exhilaration but safe trip to and from their homes. For many of these children, it will be their first trip away from home and their first ride on a plane.
The Sunshine Foundation of Canada, which provides charitable services to children nationwide, is truly dedicated to making dreams come true.
LEARN MORE:
The Sunshine Foundation of Canada Website
www.facebook.com/SunshineFound
