For 2024, there will be an application process that will be open from October 1-13.

Click here to access the application

After all applications are received, we will select families through a random lottery who will be eligible to sign up their loved ones wishes between October 18-29.

This wish list event is open to families who would not be able to provide holiday gifts to their loved ones who:

• have financial constraints
• lack family connections and want to exchange gifts with others in this special community.
• lives in the USA
• has Special Needs (no age limit for this individual)
• is a Sibling to Special Needs loved one (17 years or younger only)

When Adding a new "Wisher" you will have the ability to add a brief bio about your loved one.

• Please do not include any personal or confidential information as this is a public website.
• If you are adding multiple loved ones, add text that says something like "I have signed up 3 loved ones: Charlie, Emma, Max." This way if an "Angel" is looking to claim wishes for an entire family, they can easily locate the right people.

If you submitted your application and received an email confirming you were selected to sign up your wishes, please click the link below. Note, only people who went through the application process and were confirmed will be able to sign up using a validated email address.

Click here to make a wish. (You will first need to Create An Account. Please ensure you log in using the email address that you submitted on your application. Otherwise you will not be permitted to log in.)

You can add the number of loved ones that you had listed on your application. They will be referred to as: "Wishers" (*Note: The administrators will cross-match to ensure that is the number of loved ones you added.)

We know that sometimes "Wishers" are requesting items that are no longer available in stores. Or there are also items that are OK and welcomed even as "previously owned/used" - so for that reason our wish list allows you to request items that may not always have to be new. This also makes it possible for our "Angel" community to potentially share items that they already have that are in good condition and no longer or barely used.

If you will only accept "new" items (and it may make sense for personal care, certain types of Clothing and other items), leave the "Is previously owned OK?" box unchecked when you request your wish, and this will tell the "Angel" that you prefer only "new" items.

If you are requesting a "Used" item, please try to locate a link on Mercari or Ebay or somewhere so that you can get an approximate price. Although we recognize in many cases the "Angel" may already have this item to send to you as gently used. (As an example, if you request a used iPad, you can find several for sale on ebay for about $30, so select that as the price).

1. You will receive an individual email confirmation for each wish that is claimed. It will contain the name and email address of the "Angel"
2. You will also be able to check the "My Wishes" page to see the status.

When an "Angel" signs up to grant your wish(es), they are agreeing to purchase item and ship to you no later than December 21st. So as an example if you see that an item was claimed on November 7th, your "Angel" may decide to ship the item right away, or you may receive it several weeks later. You will also be able to check the "My Wishes" page to see the status of shipping. When an "Angel" enters in the Ship Date and Shipping Details into the page, it will show up on your page and you will know it’s on the way to you.

When wishes are claimed, you will receive a confirmation message with the email address of the "Angel" so that you can contact if needed. It is customary and expected for you to send an Email to say thank you to the "Angel" who claimed your wish(es). While not mandatory, it is greatly appreciated if you are willing to include a few photos of your loved one opening their wishes. It is what makes our Special Holiday Wants event so special - the direct connection of families helping other families. Please show your gratitude to your Angel(s).

Yes, go to "My Wishes" page - and if the item was not yet claimed, you will have the ability to Edit the Wish. If the wish was already claimed, you can no longer Edit this wish.

While we have been successful in granting 100% of the wishes since our program started, there is no guarantee that all wishes will be granted. It depends on the ability to find enough "angels" and receive enough monetary donations to cover the cost of all wishes on the list.

Create an account here

Go to https://specialwants.org/WishItems browse the page to select the Item(s) you would like to Claim. When you have located an Item and have decided to grant this wish, click on "Claim" 

A confirmation pop-up box will appear reminding you that by clicking "Claim" you are agreeing to:

1. purchase the item(s) as described
2. contact the requester with any specific questions about the item being requested
3. mail item(s) at your own cost to the individual for arrival no later than December 21

Yes! You will need to complete each transaction one at a time. In the future, we hope to be able to add a way to select or highlight multiple wishes and Claim all at the same time, but currently this feature is not available.

You will know you claimed a wish in two ways:

1. You will receive an individual email confirmation that will include information about the item you Claimed, along with the Wisher details, Email address and Mailing Address.
2. You will be able to click on the menu choice "My Claimed Wishes" and view a summary of all the items you have Claimed.

You will need to claim each wish individually, but you can identify wish requesters from the same family by sorting family ID number column.

Yes, when you are browsing the list, you will see there is a link to "Ask a Question" about the item. This link will take you to a form where you can ask your question. The question will be directly sent to the Wish Requestor. That message will include your email address, so that they will be able to respond to your question directly.

When you are on the My Claimed Wishes page, there is a link to "Edit Shipping Information" where you can enter the date you shipped item and tracking information, if available.

When you are on the My Claimed Wishes you will be able to see if the item was marked “YES” under the “Item Received” column. This information is entered by the wish requesting family.

Yes! Please click on the "Donate" link. You will be directed to sign into PayPal to make a donation using PayPal account or Credit/Debit Card. Special Wants, Inc. does not capture or store any financial details on our site - all transactions are processed through PayPal. When filling out your donation information, you can add a Special Note if you would like to request that the wish selected be for a particular individual, item, or category of gift. Special Wants administrators will make every effort to honor that request. You will receive a Thank you from Special Wants. You will NOT be given the personal information or any details about the wisher who had an item granted with any monies you donated.

Yes, since Special Wants is a 501c3 organization, your donation is tax deductible. Please click here to print out a donation receipt. Retain your PayPal donation receipt, or receipts for any items that you purchased to submit with your tax documents.