Danielle Gletow, founder of Trenton-based nonprofit One Simple Wish, has been named the organization’s full-time executive director after a year as its part-time executive director.
One Simple Wish was the brainchild of Gletow, who founded the organization in 2008 as a “matchmaking” website designed to connect children and families in need with individuals interested in helping them. Through its website, the organization grants simple wishes to children and families in need by allowing donors to browse through wishes posted on behalf of impoverished families and foster children, then selecting a specific wish to grant.
Eligible children and families can make their wishes through OSW’s network of established nonprofits and faith-based organizations, which then submit the wishes to OSW.
Wishes typically range in value from $5 to $100, making wish-granting simple and affordable. Since last November, the nonprofit has granted more than 150 wishes.
A 2000 graduate of Seton Hall, Gletow has worked in marketing for several companies around the state, most recently as web marketing director and senior account manager at Rosetta, an 80-person marketing firm based in Hamilton’s American Metro business park. She had been working part-time on One Simple Wish while continuing her job at Rosetta.
Gletow first developed the concept behind OSW nearly a decade ago when she “wanted to explore ways in which donors could feel more connected to the recipients of their generosity.”
“I also wanted to offer them ways in which they could not only determine where and how their money would be used, but also allow them to see the direct impact of their giving, even on a smaller basis,” she says.
A foster parent herself, Gletow lives in West Trenton with her husband, Joseph, and two daughters, Mia and Lily.
She says being a foster parent has given her insight into the lives of children who feel trapped in poverty and in the foster care system.
Here, she says, items and services we would all view as mundane — school supplies, a new appliance, or even a haircut — can be major challenges for someone unable to afford them.
Gletow has been an advocate for children’s rights for more than a decade. In 2006 she became a licensed resource parent in New Jersey and was executive producer and director of the documentary “mary land: The Story of LifeTies,” chronicling the formation of the nonprofit for abused and neglected adolescents.
She also sits on that organization’s board and is chair of its public relations committee.
One Simple Wish, 860 Lower Ferry Road, Suite 4, Ewing 08618; 609-883-8484. Danielle Gletow, founder and executive director. www.onesimplewish.org
