Pay It Forward: Granting Wishes to Strangers

March 13, 2009— -- Dave Girgenti is a marketing manager from New Jersey, and many would say that he sees the world through rose-colored glasses. "I think anyone would help anyone if they knew who to help and how to help them," he said.

Girgenti has found thousands of people whose generosity continues to prove him right.

A year-and-a-half ago, Girgenti launched WishUponAHero.com, what he calls a social "helping" site where anyone can post wishes, which in turn are answered by "heroes," who offer to help make those wishes come true.

"If you want to become a hero it's as easy as clicking on someone's wish that you are emotionally connected with," Girgenti said. "You never know what your super power is, meaning you never know what you can grant because it's as simple as advice or a birthday card. Anyone can be a hero."

Wish Upon a Hero was born out of Girgenti's desire to help people after tragedies like September 11th and Hurricane Katrina.

"The one thing that struck me with Sept. 11 was people hanging photos all over the city looking for lost loved ones, and I figured if there was an online site that people could post up that information, people could find people much faster," he said.

The site has grown from helping to reunite families to granting wishes big and small – so far, more than 27,000 requests have been granted.

"The wishes range from very small things like cards …We had weddings granted. We sent wheelchairs. We get children eye glasses," Girgenti said.

Heroes have sent a World War II veteran back to Pearl Harbor for his 90th birthday. Several people chipped in to get a bike for a boy with Down syndrome. For a girl whose house burned down, heroes gave her a dress and shoes for her senior prom. A boy with terminal cancer got a chance to meet his basketball idols.

Ginny Winderman, who volunteers to help run the site, has been a hero 412 times.

"I could reach out to the people I wanted to reach out to. It wasn't like I was giving to one particular organization where I really didn't know where it was going to," Winderman said. "It was an individual -- someone who really needed something."