By Sixtine Tabard - Reading time 1 min
Hilversum, September 1, 2026 – This September, more than 13,000 children across the Make-A-Wish® International network will be diagnosed with cancer and become eligible for a wish. During Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Make-A-Wish is calling on the public to help bring the life-changing impact of a wish to more children facing cancer around the world.
A cancer diagnosis can dramatically alter a child’s life, replacing school days with hospital visits and plans for the future with fear and uncertainty. For families, the emotional and physical toll can be immense. Wishes have been shown to improve physical, psychological and emotional wellbeing. They can help restore hope, build confidence and empower children to look beyond their illness towards new possibilities.
For Jerida, a 16-year-old from Tanzania living with squamous cell carcinoma, those possibilities once seemed to be slipping away. Determined to become a tailor, she spent a year working and saving for tailoring school and her first sewing machine, before her diagnosis forced her to use those savings for treatment. When Make-A-Wish Tanzania granted her wish for a sewing machine, it gave her more than the tools she needed to sew. It renewed her confidence, reignited her ambitions and helped her begin rebuilding the future she feared she had lost.
The beginning of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month also coincides with Dorothee van Vredenburch assuming the position of President and CEO of Make-A-Wish International.
“As I take up the role of President and CEO of Make-A-Wish International, I am inspired by stories like Jerida’s and the life-changing impact a wish can create,” said Dorothee van Vredenburch. “Every child is unique, and so is every wish. Wishes may look very different from country to country, but their impact can be remarkably similar, helping children facing cancer rediscover hope, build confidence and look towards the future with renewed possibility. This Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we are asking people around the world to help us bring that impact to more children.”
Supporters can help grant more life-changing wishes for children facing cancer by donating, fundraising or sharing the campaign. Every contribution helps Make-A-Wish International reach more eligible children around the world.