In 1983 Actress Emma Samms, already famous for her portrayal of Fallon Carrington Colby on the immensely popular prime time soaps Dynasty and its resulting spin-off series The Colbys became close to a young boy name Sean. At that time Sean was fighting a tough up hill battle against cancer, and Emma, who had lost her younger brother to aplastic anemia a few years before, became determined to do something to help brighten the young boy's life. She learned that Sean, who lived in London, had always wanted to see Disneyland. Working with her cousin, film producer Peter Samuelson, Emma arranged for Sean and his mother to spend a week in Los Angeles, not only visiting Disney's Magic Kingdom, but also many other famous Southern California attractions. For young Sean it truly was a wish come true.

Although Sean was eventually to lose his fight with cancer Emma and Peter were so moved by how much his wish trip had meant to him and his family that it lead them to form The Starlight Children's Foundation. This organization grants wishes and provides diversionary entertainment services for children ages 4 through 18 years, who are critically, chronically, or terminally ill. In the sixteen years since its inception The Starlight Children's Foundation has gone from helping that one child to experience his special wish, to helping over 55,000 children every month, in over 650 hospitals worldwide.

Through the Wish-Granting component of the Foundation, children are able to enjoy such things as trips to Disneyland, Sea World, Space Camp, or even getting to meet their favorite celebrity. In addition to Wish-Granting, the organization also offers such child friendly programs as:

Starlight Rooms:
State of the art, no doctors allowed, pediatric playrooms that allow hospitalized children to escape into a world of videos and computer games, giving them a few moments of respite from their sterile hospital environment.

Fun Centers:
Mobile multi-media entertainment units which are designed especially for The Starlight Foundation and can be wheeled anywhere in a hospital to help bring a smile to a child's face whenever they are undergoing treatments.

PC Pals:
A mobile, high-performance computer that can be wheeled up to a bed or rolled to other parts of a hospital. This computer brings the world of the Internet into the hands of hospitalized children.

All of the Starlight Children's Foundation's programs are offered free of charge to qualified children. Recent studies suggest that entertainment programs, such as those offered by The Starlight Foundation, have been successful in helping reduce children's pain and therefore lessen their need for pain medication. Although how much effect on this reduced pain these programs truly have is still being explored, there is no doubt that The Starlight Children's Foundation is responsible for improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of children each year. That's a lot of smiles from a lot of faces.