The Make-A-Wish Foundation got its start in 1980. Many celebrities have contributed their time and money to this organization's worthwhile efforts in helping children with life-threatening medical conditions. However, I suspect that for far too many, maybe their interest is more for their own benefit (meaning ego) than the children involved. They get a gold star because they have their name on a list but do little to pursue any real involvement. He or she gets a "done good" but exerts little or no effort. That can't be said for six...count 'em, six... very noteworthy celebrities.
Hulk Hogan, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and John Cena were the first of the celebrity world to reach the 200 Club, making possible a tremendous dream for these children. Mr Cena has since surpassed the 400 mark while Justin Bieber became a member of that elite club on August 15, 2013 when he achieved granting his 200th Wish. Mr. Bieber is also the first recording artist to join that heady club... and he didn't begin until 2009! Michael Jordan joined this distinguished group in November of 2013. That a grand total of six celebrity members, to date, who have granted at least 200 wishes to children clinging to life..
I'm sure these men (notice no women at this writing) are very busy attending to their careers and everyday lives but they obviously have found the necessary time for these children in their desperate struggles for life. It is not only sad but it is pathetic that so many other "famous" people can't do the same.
With so many "famous" individuals in movies, television, sports and so on who have traveled the road to stardom of one sort or another since 1980, why only 6 and not 600 or 6000? The answer is patently simple. Literally hundreds (if not thousands) of "famous" people are just too busy being "famous", too busy being wrapped up in their own petty little lives and worlds to think much about someone else far less fortunate.
Sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s, cowboy star William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd (for those who remember 'Hoppy'), was dining with a friend. Several children wanted to meet their hero but in so doing, Mr. Boyd became irritated and annoyed. Noticing this, his dining companion leaned over and reminded Mr. Boyd that it was those kids who, virtually overnight, had made him a millionaire. From that moment on 'Hoppy' never lost sight of that fact and embraced his diminutive but exuberant audience without fail.
At the height of his career, Paul Newman, too, was also dining with friends with the usual attention being paid to him by loyal fans. One of Mr. Newman's friends asked if having his meals interrupted annoyed him. While admitting it did at times, he also said it was those very same people who had made him the success that he was. That was paramount.
Too many "famous" people forget that it is often the children who are responsible for their attaining fame and fortune. Without that diminutive and often exuberant audience, they would be nothing, just another face in the crowd.
Mr. Cena is looking forward to claiming the 500 mark and I'm sure he'll achieve it because he wants to. And I'll bet he gets there before a great many other celebrities or "famous" people even reach one.
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