Reddit Thread Prompts More Than $200,000 in Donations to Foster Children Nonprofit
After a Reddit user posted to the Ask Reddit thread “What is something you've done purely out of the goodness of your heart but have not told anyone?" users shared an array of good deeds.
All it took was user dartdoug’s mention of purchasing an 11-year-old foster child a bicycle for his birthday via One Simple Wish’s website to start a wave of support for the Trenton, New Jersey-based nonprofit that soon crashed the organization’s website on June 21. Overnight, the charity raised $25,000 as a result. And that has since snowballed into $200,000, according to The Washington Post.
One user commented on the thread, “I’ve never given to charity. Now I have. Thanks.”
Another added, “My husband and I just spent an hour purchasing wishes for kids from our home states. Thank you for sharing this. One Simple Wish is now part of our philanthropic giving.”
And finally, another user noted, “Reading the comments on this one made me realize how much sharing a good deed can inspire others for the same path.”
The charity posts hundreds of wishes daily for foster children, their parents and even those who have aged out of the system. Each wish requests a specific dollar amount to make the wish come true. At the time of publication, there were 48 wishes on the website totaling $6,127. In the three weeks since the initial post, donors have granted more than 2,300 wishes—five times the number in the same three weeks last year, according to the nonprofit's Facebook page.
After finding the post that sparked the series of fulfilled wishes on the nonprofit’s website, Danielle Gletow, founder of One Simple Wish, posted her thanks to the thread.
“I can’t even contain my happy tears and gratitude for you all,” Gletow said. “Our team is up and working hard on the site too! Thank you for this. I don’t know that I can put into words what you’ve done.”
She has kept the thread up to date on the progress, noting how many wishes were left—at times they were all fulfilled—and when her team is working on fixing the website due to multiple crashes from the overwhelming support.
“Longest hug ever,” she posted two days into the giving spree began. “Please don't let us go! Over $123,000 in donations. ... You are miracle-makers. Imagine this happens all the time because these amazing humans who have been impacted by this terrible system deserve all the love, all the hugs, all the time. Love you all.”
