[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9640]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 9640]]

     TRIBUTE TO THE MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION ON ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 6, 2000

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, today I pay special tribute to the Make-A-
Wish Foundation, which is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its 
founding. A non-profit organization that has 82 chapters nationwide, 
the Foundation is the oldest, largest and most-respected wish-granting 
organization in the world. Since its founding, it has fulfilled the 
wishes of 60,000 children between the ages of 2 and 18 who suffer from 
life-threatening illnesses.
  The Mid-Atlantic chapter was established in 1983 by concerned 
Maryland citizens who had heard about how the Foundation began with the 
granting of a wish of a 7-year-old boy with leukemia in Arizona. Since 
then, the Mid-Atlantic chapter has fulfilled the wishes of more than 
3,000 children from Maryland, Delaware, Northern Virginia and 
Washington, D.C. Now one of the four largest chapters based on the 
number of wishes granted, the Mid-Atlantic chapter has grown from 
granting only three wishes its first year, to more than 300 in the 
fiscal year 1998.
  Deeply committed to granting the wishes of each approved child, the 
Foundation depends on not only the service of more than 13,000 
volunteers, but also the support of individual and group donations, 
corporate and small business contributions, foundation grants, 
community events, and Wish Friends Inc., a non-profit organization that 
produces events and other developmental programs to benefit the 
Foundation.
  I hope that my colleagues will join me in saluting the Make-A-Wish 
Foundation for its efforts and success on the behalf of children over 
the past 20 years, and congratulating Ralph A. Nappi, Jr., President of 
the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the Foundation, and the entire chapter for 
their tireless work in ensuring the fulfillment of each child's wish.

                          ____________________