Nik's Story

The story of the Nikolas Ritschel Foundation

Nik was diagnosed with cancer just before his 18th birthday and was granted a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This wish meant the world to him. It gave him hope and happiness in a time of struggle and pain. When Nik discovered that kids over 17 do not qualify, he wanted to help. The night before cancer took his life in 2012, he asked to help them have a wish too. The Nikolas Ritschel Foundation (aka Nik's Wish) was born.

We have seen wishes to celebrate the end of treatment, wishes to encourage patients to keep fighting during treatment, and even last wishes to bring families together to create precious moments of joy. A Nik's Wish carves out a joyful time to laugh, love and be together - And to forget about cancer for a while.

Donate and help us fill the wish gap!

Let's support young adults fighting a hard battle

Step into the shoes of Elizabeth and Jack in their videos to understand how important your support is to young adults and their families fighting cancer

Jack's Cancer Journey - Ewing Sarcoma

Elizabeth's Cancer Journey - Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Click below to see Nik's Wish on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Our founder, Kelli (Nik's mom), is featured in the new book, Gap Warriors, where she shares how Nik's Wish has beaten the odds to keep our nonprofit afloat while fulfilling the desire to fill a gap to Bring JOY to young adults fighting cancer.

Now available on Amazon for purchase -http://ow.ly/4HHr50AD5sY