Wish Upon a Hero is a social helping network in the United States that connects those in need with people who are willing to help.[1]
Wish Upon A Hero was conceived by Dave Girgenti shortly after the September 11 attacks as a means to connect people in need after major disasters. After witnessing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Girgenti worked to develop the Wish Upon a Hero web community. The website launched in September 2007.[2] The social networking website is free and designed to help anyone in need. The website works by connecting wishers with wish grantors; people can post up to three wishes at a time to the website; grantors can grant whatever wishes they choose. These wishes can range from relatively small to large, such as words of encouragement or financial assistance.[3] [4] To date, more than 100,000 wishes have been granted through the site.[5]
The Wish Upon A Hero Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports the wish granting efforts of individuals and organizations. Established in June 2008 as a mechanism to raise money for larger wishes that were not being granted on the Wish Upon a Hero website, the Foundation accepts corporate donations and is eligible to receive government grants. In 2011, the Wish Upon a Hero Foundation sponsored Iraq War veteran in the "Hike for our Heroes" as he hiked across the U.S. to raise money for military families in need.[6]
The Divine 9 golf fundraiser is an annual celebrity pro-am golf championship benefiting people and families with blood cancer. Since 2004, Divine 9 has raised more than $1 million toward leukemia and lymphoma research. At the 2010 event, Divine 9 granted a 'wedding' wish to a leukemia patient who posted her wish for a dream wedding on the Wish Upon A Hero website.[7]