Dave Girgenti

Terra Husser may not be a fairy godmother, but she has granted 282 wishes in the last few months.

The Red Bank woman is a wish ambassador for the New Jersey-based Wish Upon a Hero Web site (www.wishuponahero.com). Through the site, she and other users can post wishes that can be granted by other users or grant wishes themselves.

“It’s addictive,” said founder Dave Girgenti, 36, a graphic designer in Cherry Hill, N.J. “It’s people empowered to help other people wherever they can.”

The wishes can be big or small, elaborate or simple, based on financial need or just a simple favor, according to information on the Web site.

As of late last week, 11,222 wishes had been posted since the site’s inauguration in September, and 6,498 wishes had been granted.

In one wish, Mr. Girgenti said, a girl named Molly posted a wish that Kathleen, her sister with Down syndrome, could go to an upcoming Hannah Montana concert in Atlantic City near their home.

Her wish granter, or hero, “Billyboy,” drove to the concert city and, not knowing how hot the $1,000-$3,000 tickets were, haggled four of them from the box office.

As it turned out, Mr. Girgenti related, the wish hero went to such trouble for a complete stranger because his sister had Down syndrome and had died recently.

More often, the wishes are for necessary or less complicated things such as clothes following natural disasters, cards for a sick child or advice.

Ms. Husser, 22, has granted wishes such as sending a card to a firefighter graduating from a class in Illinois, helping out with a bit of money to a Houston mother who wanted to buy a suit and shoes for her son to be buried in, and forwarding Kool-Aid packets to a Louisiana man.

When she first stumbled on the Wish Upon a Hero site, she said, “I made a wish, and in a couple of days somebody had granted it. I tried to turn it back and pay it forward and do for somebody else. It felt good.”

Ms. Husser said she is only able to do what is within her ability, but that can be a lot.

“I don’t have a million dollars,” she said, “but if I can give them a card to make them happy, I’ll do it.”

Ms. Husser also has asked for help for groceries for her and her son (receiving $21), for a new fuel pump for her car (receiving $5) and for pillows and a comforter.

“To be honest,” she said, “I lived in (Las) Vegas, and I came from absolutely nothing. I went from Vegas to North Carolina to here with just a backpack full of papers. I’ve tried to give back because I’ve been helped. I believe in paying it forward and in good karma.”

Mr. Girgenti said while there are a number of wish requests for money to pay for this or that, users are encouraged to step back and request what they really need.

“They’ll get to the source faster,” he said. “A lot of things are the equivalent of money. There are a lot of things such as clothes that people can donate to each other.”

The Wish Upon a Hero site suggests granters research the wisher before granting a wish, keeps a list of “known scammers” and asks users to never give out personal information.

“There are probably a few (users) who take advantage,” said Mr. Girgenti, “but there is only so much they’ll get off this site. Somebody will check into it. People are not into handing out money willy-nilly.”

He said any help users receive is only temporary. Since records are available on all users, wish granters can check to see if wishers ask for the same thing time after time. The site also lists links to more permanent resources.

“You can’t live off the site for food,” Mr. Girgenti said. “It’s a temporary patch. I try to encourage people to think bigger.”

The idea for such a site began following the terrorist bombings of Sept. 11, 2001, he said, when he saw family members posting pictures of their missing loved ones. He figured he should be able to take his laptop and his skills into New York City to help, he said, but he had no system in place to do so.

He felt similar helplessness following Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Girgenti said, when the government seemed to act slowly to bring relief to the New Orleans area.

By 2006, he had in mind what he wanted to do, so he created a logo and purchased the domain name of his site. In 2007, with the help of a programmer friend, he put it all together.

In times of crisis, Mr. Girgenti said, “if you do what you can do well, there is a way to do it for good. Everybody doesn’t have put out a fire or be a surgeon. Everyone’s important.”

The Wish Upon a Hero Web site makes such good works possible in large and small ways.

“It’s all about people interacting to make people stronger,” Mr. Girgenti said. “It’s quite a different phenomenon than social networking. It’s sort of like ‘random acts of kindness’ meets ‘pay it forward.’ ”