The Make a Wish Foundation

[TheDudeAbides]

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Personally, I'd much rather donate to the Make-A-Wish than to something like AIDS research. AIDS is a fully preventable disease. Many of these kids have terminal forms of cancer that they didn't contract by sharing needles or engaging in unprotected sex.

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tell that to the millions of kids who are BORN with AIDS and have no choice in the matter. or to the people whose backasswards third world churches or leaders tell them they can cure AIDS by having sex with virgins, that condoms don't work or are against god's will, etc.

jesus christ. AIDS is a terrible epidemic that could even further destabilize world health if it mutates and becomes more hardy.

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You make a valid point - I'll concede that. I was thinking in terms of a North American perspective. But you definitely make a good point.

[cbloom]

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They are there for the parents when the horror of what they are going through is too much. There are many people inside the organization that have gone through it themselves, and they truly understand what it means to bury a child.


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Ok, see, I totally wasn't thinking about that aspect, which is pretty retarded of me. I was just thinking about the child's appreciation of the gift, but I guess in reality the help for the grieving parents and family and friends and such is at least as much of the equation.

[KotOD]

To anyone that doesn't believe in an everafter, and believes that life is just life, no warmup to eternity, make-a-wish is incredibly important. Life is a blink for most of us - there isn't enough time to do all that we want to do and experience all that we want to experience. For these kids, life never even gets started. If make-a-wish can deepen their experience and lighten their existence, good for them. I know life is random and unfair, but damn, man, to not even have a chance to know what you've missed? That's heavy.

Good for make-a-wish -- at least now the kids will have some cherished experience that they never would have had otherwise.

[TheDudeAbides]

Forgot to mention something. Even though NT!'s points are valid, that still doesn't change the fact that AIDS is indeed 100% preventable. Okay - no more threadjacking from me...

[Dids]

This retardo argument hinges on a flawed premise that this money would be otherwise availalbe if not for MAW.

The sappy folks who donate to stuff like this are less likely to give money to the feed the starving baby gay black kids association. That's lame, but it's also true.

[Mondogarage]

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The Make a Wish Foundation grants wishes for terminally ill children. In 2006 it took in $182 million in donations.

I find it incredibly repulsive...That money could be going to educate inner city kids, cure diseases so those kids weren't terminally ill in the first place, or how about the "Make a Bridge Foundation". Instead they throw parties for kids who are going to die anyway. They're not making any kind of lasting difference in anyone's life, so far as I can tell.

My GF thinks I'm a heartless bastard, what does OOT think?

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$182 million works out to about 60 cents for every man, woman, and child in America. Don't be such a heartless nit.

The money makes lasting differences in the lives of the children who are recipients of the made wishes that likely last...well, the rest of their lives.

[CrushingX]

Wouldn't it also be better in the long run to just kill off everyone who has AIDS?

[Alobar]

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The way Im looking at things, is that if the money was spent to help cure the diseases, rather than sending kids with teh diseases to disney land, it would better for everyone in teh long run.



but I hate thinking that way because those kids have it rough.

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meh, why not apply the same logic then and say, why even waste any money on charity, since even if you cure diseases the people who have those diseases are just going to die eventually anyway?

[guids]

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The way Im looking at things, is that if the money was spent to help cure the diseases, rather than sending kids with teh diseases to disney land, it would better for everyone in teh long run.



but I hate thinking that way because those kids have it rough.

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meh, why not apply the same logic then and say, why even waste any money on charity, since even if you cure diseases the people who have those diseases are just going to die eventually anyway?

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Because there is a basic quality of life imo that people on earth should have while your here, that I can only hope is someday achieved, being disease free is part of that, taking kids to disneyland isnt.

[Alobar]

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The way Im looking at things, is that if the money was spent to help cure the diseases, rather than sending kids with teh diseases to disney land, it would better for everyone in teh long run.



but I hate thinking that way because those kids have it rough.

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meh, why not apply the same logic then and say, why even waste any money on charity, since even if you cure diseases the people who have those diseases are just going to die eventually anyway?

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Because there is a basic quality of life imo that people on earth should have while your here, that I can only hope is someday achieved, being disease free is part of that, taking kids to disneyland isnt.

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exactly, so given that there is no dollar amount that when reached all disease will be eradicated and everyone will have that quality of life, what is wrong with giving money to some people so that they can have a wonderful moment in a life that is going to be drastically short on wonderful moments.