Make-A-Wish holiday hotline shares wholesome advice for when you're feeling low

Call the Holiday Wish Line for a bit of joy.
 By 
Chase DiBenedetto
 on 
A young girl sits in front of a radio microphone wearing headphones. An "on air" sign glows behind her.
Make-A-Wish launches the Holiday Wish Hotline to share kid-friendly advice and holiday cheer. Credit: Make-A-Wish

National childhood charity Make-A-Wish has debuted a new way to beat end-of-the-year holiday stress and spark a bit of hope, all with a simple phone call.

From Dec. 4 to Dec. 31, anyone can ring the organization's new Holiday Wish Line to receive a needed dose of seasonal joy from one of six Make-A-Wish kids, each of whom have recorded their favorite jokes, stories, advice, and reminders of holiday cheer for all to hear.

"Hope is a guiding force for wish kids and their families as they face the unimaginable. The instant a child's hope is realized, they experience a powerful, life-changing joy that nurtures their emotional well-being," wrote Make-A-Wish America president and CEO Leslie Motter. "The Holiday Wish Line allows anyone, at any time, to receive a dose of hope and joy from our wish kids.”


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Callers can also go online to read more about each of the participating wish grantees, like 11-year-old aspirational content creator Ava, or Annabelle, a 9-year-old from Clovis, California who dreams of her favorite hockey team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Ava herself leads the hotline charge, offering eight different prompts for callers, including messages in Spanish.

A child holding a baseball bat, wearing a blue Make-A-Wish shirt.
Credit: Make-A-Wish
A child standing in the middle aisle of an airplane, wearing a blue Make-A-Wish shirt.
Credit: Make-A-Wish

Press 2, for example, to hear bits of holiday cheer from Annabelle and her fellow wish grantees. "If someone was sad in my family," Annabelle advises, "I would give them a hug and say, 'Do you want to play with me?'"

"I would say, 'How bout I be your friend? I can bring you joy, hope, and be kind to you," says another wish grantee. "It will be okay."

To hear from the Make-A-Wish kids themselves, call (480) 914-9474 (WISH).

Still struggling to find that perfect gift? Try Mashable's Gift Lab.

Topics Social Good

Chase sits in front of a green framed window, wearing a cheetah print shirt and looking to her right. On the window's glass pane reads "Ricas's Tostadas" in red lettering.
Chase DiBenedetto
Social Good Reporter

Chase joined Mashable's Social Good team in 2020, covering online stories about digital activism, climate justice, accessibility, and media representation. Her work also captures how these conversations manifest in politics, popular culture, and fandom. Sometimes she's very funny.

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