[jAZ]

I just got this from someone who accidently typed my email address instead of her friend of the same name.

Hi, my name is Amy Bruce.

I am 7 years old, and I have severe lung cancer . I also have a large
tumor in my brain, from repeated beatings. Doctors say I will
die soon if this isn't fixed, and my family can't pay the bills.

The Make A Wish Foundation has agreed to donate 7 cents for every time
this message is sent on.

For those of you who send this along, I thank you so much, but for
those who don't send it, what goes around comes around.

Have a Heart, please send this.

Please, if you are a kind person, send this on.

PLEASE HIT FORWARD BUTTON NOT REPLY BUTTON.

YOUR'S FAITHFULLY,
AMY BRUCE
amy.bruce@makeawish.com

And here's my reply.

Hi (sender and everyone on her email list),

First of all, this IS a chain letter.

Second, Make A Wish Foundation's official website is wish.org not makeawish.com (though they seem to have purchased this domain now as well).

Third, there is no technology in the world that will allow anyone to accurately track forwarded emails in order to make payments for each message forwarded. So ALL emails claiming this are lies.

Fourth, this sort of false reporting is such a problem that Make A Wish has a special place on their website to deal with it. http://www.wish.org/about/chain_letters They are surely flooded with phone calls and emails from people complaining about this practice and they end up wasting their valuable and limited resources on fielding complaints about something they have no control over. If you want to help them, don't send this email to anyone. And if you want to help the world, do the same for every such email.

Fifth, I'm sure Make A Wish Foundation would love to have members of your email list(s) make actual donations to them. While they don't send out money for emails like this, they do accept it. They also accept volunteer time and "building supplies, computer equipment, hot tubs and spas, frequent flier miles, loyalty points, shopping sprees and more". More information on how to help here: http://www.wish.org/help.

Sixth, 90+% of every email that is sent out en masse like this is false. There is a website called Snopes (www.snopes.com) that researches each of these and much more and posts that research for all of our benefit. I ask anyone who might consider forwarding a mass email to search Snopes for it.

Seventh, here is the link to the Snopes entry for Amy Bruce. http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/medical/amybruce.asp

Eigth, since Make A Wish doesn't "in any way assist with procuring medical treatment for sick kids", you might want to consider also making a donation to the American Cancer Society. You can do that here: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/DON/DON_0.asp.

Ninth, in case you hadn't yet noticed, I'm not the (Full Name) you thought you were trying to send this email to. However if his email address is (removed from this post), rest assured that (based on the list of email addresses you are sending out for all the world to see) he already received this email from the very same person who sent it to you.

Tenth, have a great day and remember. For the most part, people don't like getting this sort of forwarded email at all. They probably just care too much about your feelings to say anything to you about.