Cherry Hill man connects wishes to heroes on ’net
David Girgenti, like others, felt the need to just do something following the terror attacks on Sept. 11 eight years ago. Not being a firefighter, police officer or EMT, his specialty lay in graphic design.
While watching the events unfold exactly eight years ago from his Cherry Hill home, Girgenti said he was particularly struck by the images of walls plastered with photographs posted by people seeking missing loved ones. At the time, he said he wanted to scan each photograph and enter it into a database, but technology was limited. Still, Girgenti wanted to do something.
“I remember saying, ‘There’s got to be a faster way of doing that.’ So the idea of, ‘How do you help people faster?’ was something that came out of the day,” Girgenti said.
The idea was in the back of his head. And when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Girgenti realized that the need to help people secure the basic elements of life was high. After a lot of development, he launched the sophisticated Web site www.wishuponaherofoundation.org — all in the name of helping others help others.
The site allows anyone in the world to both ask for, and grant wishes, which vary tremendously.
Eight years later to the day, Girgenti was making good on his epiphany. Later in the day on Sept. 11, 2009, his staff was looking for ways to help a woman from Ohio, with medical problems and small children, make payments so she may stay in her home — a wish posted on the Web site.
In another wish, a woman from Texas asked for a kidney for her ailing police officer father. Less than three months later a woman from York, Pa., stepped up, and was flown to Texas for the operation.
With a security team, an administration team, a board of directors, and an advisory board, Girgenti’s former “side project” has morphed into a full-time job. The nonprofit entity operates in every state and 140 countries.
“About a year [after Girgenti launched the site], I realized that there were some wishes on there that were too big for the average person to grant, so I created the Wish Upon a Hero Foundation,” he said. The foundation allows for corporate donations and enables him to apply for government grants. “Every day, a few hundred wishes go up, and we’ve granted about 39,000 of them.”
Though he’s not aware of a way to measure it, Girgenti said his organization is probably one of the fastest-growing charities in the world. His foundation got a boost when it was featured on a nightly news program.
“It just seemed too important to just do in between sleeping and work,” he said.
To help raise money for the foundation, Girgenti will hold the Hero Awards Gala Nov. 21 at the Adventure Aquarium, in Camden. But it’s more than just a fundraiser. Girgenti calls it “The Oscars of Helping Out.”
“The gala is to honor the heroes on the site and the heroes in the real world who have done stuff for other people — those who have really helped out,” Girgenti said. “People go up and accept an award, and it’s really emotional.”
He added that the woman who is granted a wish by donating one of her kidneys will be making the trip to the gala.
For more information on the Wish Upon a Hero Foundation and its upcoming gala, visit www.wishuponaherofoundation.org.
While watching the events unfold exactly eight years ago from his Cherry Hill home, Girgenti said he was particularly struck by the images of walls plastered with photographs posted by people seeking missing loved ones. At the time, he said he wanted to scan each photograph and enter it into a database, but technology was limited. Still, Girgenti wanted to do something.
“I remember saying, ‘There’s got to be a faster way of doing that.’ So the idea of, ‘How do you help people faster?’ was something that came out of the day,” Girgenti said.
The idea was in the back of his head. And when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Girgenti realized that the need to help people secure the basic elements of life was high. After a lot of development, he launched the sophisticated Web site www.wishuponaherofoundation.org — all in the name of helping others help others.
The site allows anyone in the world to both ask for, and grant wishes, which vary tremendously.
Eight years later to the day, Girgenti was making good on his epiphany. Later in the day on Sept. 11, 2009, his staff was looking for ways to help a woman from Ohio, with medical problems and small children, make payments so she may stay in her home — a wish posted on the Web site.
In another wish, a woman from Texas asked for a kidney for her ailing police officer father. Less than three months later a woman from York, Pa., stepped up, and was flown to Texas for the operation.
With a security team, an administration team, a board of directors, and an advisory board, Girgenti’s former “side project” has morphed into a full-time job. The nonprofit entity operates in every state and 140 countries.
“About a year [after Girgenti launched the site], I realized that there were some wishes on there that were too big for the average person to grant, so I created the Wish Upon a Hero Foundation,” he said. The foundation allows for corporate donations and enables him to apply for government grants. “Every day, a few hundred wishes go up, and we’ve granted about 39,000 of them.”
Though he’s not aware of a way to measure it, Girgenti said his organization is probably one of the fastest-growing charities in the world. His foundation got a boost when it was featured on a nightly news program.
“It just seemed too important to just do in between sleeping and work,” he said.
To help raise money for the foundation, Girgenti will hold the Hero Awards Gala Nov. 21 at the Adventure Aquarium, in Camden. But it’s more than just a fundraiser. Girgenti calls it “The Oscars of Helping Out.”
“The gala is to honor the heroes on the site and the heroes in the real world who have done stuff for other people — those who have really helped out,” Girgenti said. “People go up and accept an award, and it’s really emotional.”
He added that the woman who is granted a wish by donating one of her kidneys will be making the trip to the gala.
For more information on the Wish Upon a Hero Foundation and its upcoming gala, visit www.wishuponaherofoundation.org.
