Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I rise to speak about the recent Flight of Dreams fundraiser. Mr. Speaker, most children have all their lives to make wishes come true, but for those children who may never have a tomorrow, there is the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada. The goal of the foundation is to provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience for children suffering from high-risk, life-threatening illnesses. In order to qualify, a child must be between three and 18, and their wishes can be as simple as a visit to their grandparents or a tour of Disney World.
Last Saturday, Mr. Speaker, Yellowknife hosted its third annual Flight of Dreams, a fundraising gala event where all the proceeds go towards the Children's Wish Foundation, Alberta-NWT Chapter. Approximately 400 people gathered at the Great Slave Helicopters hangar at the airport dressed in formal attire. Guests were provided with an evening of exceptional food, socializing, dancing, along with opportunities to bid on a variety of items, all donated for a silent auction. The event raised $30,000, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the many volunteers and sponsors of this event, it has been an extremely successful endeavour. I am proud to say that the Northwest Territories has raised over $90,000 this far towards making wishes come true. In fact last year, the staff of Diavik Diamond Mines raised over $6,000 at their mine site and the RCMP contributed over $15,000 from their charity golf tournament.
On average, a child's wish works out to be approximately $6,000 or, to date, 15 wishes. In the first year of existence, our NWT chapter granted eight wishes. As the public became more aware of this foundation, so did the number of requests. It is pleasing to learn that not yet one child in the Northwest Territories has been turned away. Nationally, the Children's Wish Foundation has granted well over 5,000 wishes to Canadian children.
Mr. Speaker, the event was brought north by two residents of Yellowknife, Peter and Terry Arychuk, who have a son that was granted a wish in 1997. I am pleased to say that today he is a happy, healthy teenager, Mr. Speaker.
At the time of their son's illness, there was no coordinator for the Northwest Territories and Terry was asked if she would be interested in taking on this challenging position. Of course, she gracefully accepted.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the volunteers and the Arychuks for bringing this worthwhile charity to the North. As Terry Arychuk has said, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing a child's face light up when they are granted their wish. Mr. Speaker, I ask my fellow colleagues to join me in...