Wish Upon A Hero
Encyclopedia
Wish Upon a Hero is a social helping network in the United States, which connects those in need with people who are willing to help.

History and Organization Background

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
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

, Girgenti worked to develop the Wish Upon a Hero web community. The website launched in September 2007. The social networking website is free and designed to help anyone in need. The website works by connecting victims with providers; victims of disasters can post wishes to the website, while providers can grant up to three wishes. These wishes can range from relatively small to large, such as words of encouragement or financial assistance.To date, more than 70,000 wishes have been granted through the site. Unfortunately the site has gone downhill. It implemented a verification system to allow heroes to safely grant verified wishes. The security team verifies known scammers and refuses to remove them from the site because the site is a for profit site and scammers make them money. Many heroes are leaving.

Wish Upon a Hero Foundation

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 Troy Yocum
Troy Yocum
Troy Yocum is a veteran of the Iraq war, who hiked over seven thousand miles across America in 2010-2011 to help bring awareness to issues faced by veterans and their families.-Drum hike:...

in the "Hike for our Heroes" as he hiked across the U.S. to raise money for military families in need.
Divine 9 Golf Fundraiser

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.

External Links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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