The majority of the wishes we receive are very urgent.  Emergency medical situations, children’s needs, and other basic needs like food, shelter, and transportation are common wishes that we receive and grant every day.  For those wishes, we utilize our charity’s funds and we grant the wishes immediately.  When a wish is submitted to WISH for OUR HEROES, the first step is to screen the wish and verify the legitimacy of the wish and circumstance.  This step includes the verification of military status, as well as verification of the need being requested.  The level of diligence work varies depending on the magnitude and circumstances surrounding the wish.  As soon as the diligence work has been completed, the wish is submitted to our Wish Committee.  Our Wish Committee consists of 5 members, and each member votes on all wishes to determine which wishes will be granted, as well as the budget for each wish.  Typically our Wish Committee meets one time per week, but for emergency wishes, we will meet in a matter of hours or even minutes.  The wishes are divided into 4 categories:

Category 1:  Grant immediately using our charity’s funds

Category 2:  Wish is approved and will be granted, but it’s not as time-sensitive, so it will posted on the website for a period of time to raise additional funds

Category 3:  Wish is approved, but it requires significant coordination (volunteers, celebrities, etc)

Category 4:  Wish is not approved

The wishes you’re seeing below are all category 2 wishes.  They are all wishes that have been approved for granting by the Wish Committee, but we’re posting them on the website to allow donors to assist us in granting them.  100% of the funds you donate to any of the wishes below will be used for THAT SPECIFIC WISH ONLY.  When it’s time to grant the wish, we will use the funds you donated and then we will fill in the balance of the funds from WISH for OUR HEROES to grant the wish.  Of course, all donations are tax deductible.

Thank you so much for your kindness!  Please help us grant a wish today!! All donations are tax-deductible, and you will receive tax receipts via US postal mail. Grant a Wish securely for individual wishes by using the PayPal ChipIn widget button below.

• SGT Jonathon Boles is a Drill Instructor at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. He endured a 14 month deployment from Oct. 06 to Dec. 07 and suffers from PTSD. He is married to Beth and they have two adorable little boys Elijah who is 8 and Ethan who is 5. Being a DI SGT Boles works very long hours and doesn’t get to spend much time with his wife and boys.The Boles have struggled financially due to several relocations including Fort Stewart where Beth was laid off which took them down to one income. The family had to sell a lot of their things to help pay bills. Since being at Fort Leonard Wood their 8 year old son fell and rammed a stick through his hand. He developed MRSA and was in the children’s hospital in St. Louis for several days which is 2 hours away from Ft. Leonard Wood. Due to this situation the family incurred a lot of medical and travel expenses and Beth had to take off of work without pay in order to take care of Elijah.Due to tight finances, Elijah and Ethan do not have bedroom furniture. The boys sleep on an air mattress and use plastic bins to store their clothing. Beth’s Aunt Tina has submitted a wish for beds and a dresser for Elijah and Ethan. As Aunt Tina points out, the Boles family, along with all military families, sacrifice so much for our freedom. Please help Wish For Our Heroes provide beds and a dresser for the Boles children. If we can raise $600 then we believe we could also provide bedding (comforters, sheets etc.) for the boys. Please help us raise $600 so that Elijah and Ethan can have nice comfy beds to sleep in and a dresser to store their clothing. Donations will be accepted through January 31, 2012.

• PFC Cody Harrison has been in the Army for a little over a year and just deployed to Afghanistan. He is based out of Ft. Lewis, WA. He is married to Sam and they have 3 children ages 5, 3 ½, & 2. Due to the economy, Cody was having problems keeping work. He was laid off of at least 4 jobs, including the oil field services industry and washing trucks, due to the economy before he joined the Army. After being laid off the last time Cody decided to join the Army. He discovered he needed 10 additional college credits along with his GED and 5 other college credits in order to enlist. He obtained his 10 college credits during summer school, scored high on his ASVAB test and is now in Afghanistan.Due to months of unemployment, the Harrison’s were left without a place to live. They moved in with Cody’s parents and sold their car in order to pay their bills. On top of everything else they have incurred a lot of medical debt due to illnesses Sam suffers from and their 3 ½ year old daughter with Asperger’s Syndrome. After BCT, Cody purchased an old car (1992) that got them all the way to Fort Lewis and lasted many months after they got to Washington. After Cody left for Afghanistan the car conked out leaving Sam and the 3 children without transportation at Fort Lewis.Wish For Our Heroes would love to be able to help the Harrison family out with reliable transportation but we need your help. One of our concerns is that PFC Harrison be able to focus on his duties while in Afghanistan. Until he can know his family is taken care of back here in the states this will continue to be a distraction to him. Please help out the Harrison family. We believe we can find them a nice reliable vehicle for $5000. While PFC Harrison is sacrificing to protect us, let’s give him a peace of mind knowing his family is being provided for here in the states. Collecting donations now through February 29, 2012.

• SSG Joseph Knotts has been in the Army over 20 years and has endured 3 deployments. He is currently stationed at Fort Hood. SSG Knotts and his wife, Sara, have 10 children ages 2 to 20. The Knotts family has sacrificed a great deal for our country and now they need our help.Their 3 year old daughter, MaryAnna, has been diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia which is a blood disease that causes bone marrow failure. MaryAnna needs a bone marrow transplant which her 10 year old brother is going to donate. This transplant will take place at Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX this month.The Knotts family has a long road ahead of them. They will need lodging for the entire family during their stay in Houston which will cost $3300. Gasoline and food will run approximately $1600 for their stay. The family vehicle also needs a battery which will run $100 before they can begin their travels.MaryAnna was diagnosed in July, and since then has had to receive a blood transfusion every 3 -5 days. This meant traveling to Temple or Houston for MaryAnna to receive these transfusions. This travel alone has caused an extreme financial hardship for this family. The Knotts family endured these hardships without reaching out for help. Even now, they have not asked for help. Wish For Our Heroes learned of their situation and has stepped up to help this family. It is families like this that give so much and ask for nothing in return. MaryAnna will be in Houston until May during her healing process. There will be more hotel and travel bills beyond the initial transplant time frame. Please help us raise $10,000 for this family so that they can focus on the healing of their daughter without worrying about how they are going to pay for it. We will be accepting donations through April 30, 2012.

• SFC Gordon Lindgren is stationed at Fort Riley and is currently on a hardship assignment to Korea. SFC Lindgren has been in the Army since the early 90’s. SFC Lindgren grew up in a tropical area and has always wanted a vacation in the tropics. SFC Lindgren had an opportunity to transfer to Hawaii, his dream assignment, but turned it down when he found out his daughter was pregnant and he was going to become a grandfather. It was more important to be near his daughter and support her during her pregnancy than to fulfill his own dreams. Because of SFC Lindgren’s sacrifices he has made for his family and his country, his daughter submitted a wish to send her parent on a tropical vacation. Wish For Our Heroes needs help in raising $2000 in funds to send the SFC Lindgren and Mrs. Lindgren to St. Thomas for a well-deserved vacation. This trip will take place next spring so we are accepting donations through March 1, 2012.

• Just days before their wedding, Joshua and Tamara Arndt received news that they were expecting a child. As a result, they never got a chance to take a honeymoon. Two years later, Tamara has submitted a wish for her and her husband, Joshua, an NCO with the Air Force, to take a honeymoon this October, with hopes they could finally get some time to spend together. Joshua recently returned from deployment in the United Arab Emirates and has been serving for nine years. Wish For Our Heroes would like to send Joshua and Tamara to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a belated honeymoon in October. The wish would include airfare, hotel and a rental car during their stay. Please help send this lovely couple on a very belated honeymoon!