San Fran Going Gotham For A Great Cause

This may be the most adorable thing to ever happen: the city of San Francisco is going Gotham for a day on Nov. 15 for the sake of a very excitable five-year-old boy. You might remember that Gotham City is the fictional home of Batman, and the Make-A-Wish foundation is transforming Miles, 5, who has leukemia, into Bat-kid for the day, and San Fran into his Gotham lair. With the help of thousands of volunteers and Make-A-Wish, Miles will take part in a massive "Batventure" that will span the entire city.

After rescuing a damsel in distress from the cable car tracks in Nob Hill, and capturing the Riddler in the act of robbing a downtown vault, Batman will eat his lunch at the Burger Bar in San Francisco – directly above Union Square. While at Burger Bar, he will get a call on his batphone to go to the window – where he will look down and see a huge group of volunteers jumping up and down asking for Batman’s help. Why?

Because the Penguin will be kidnapping a famous Gotham City mascot! The getaway car will be visible on Union Square (a convertible so that everyone can see what is happening), and the chase will be on!

After catching the Penguin, Batman will make his final stop at City Hall, where the Mayor and the Police Chief of Gotham City will thank him and give him the key to the city. We plan on having hundreds of volunteers and donors collected to cheer and thank our Batman!

This isn't the first time Make-A-Wish has organized an epic superhero adventure. In 2010, 13-year-old Eric Martin, aka "Electron Boy" got to help Spiderman rid Seattle's streets of crime. The adventure culminated in a Space Needle showdown, during which Martin saved the city from Dr. Dark and Blackout Boy.

Make-a-Wish is famous for being inventive in their wish-granting, often with results that go far beyond the kids that dream the big dreams. In 2003, nine-year-old Ben Duskin worked with a LucasArts game designer to come up with Ben's Game, in which a skateboarding Ben battled chemo and cancer. Two years later, kids in hospitals around the world were playing the game (which had been translated into nine languages), and the Dalai Lama was honoring Ben at the "Unsung Heroes of Compassion" ceremony.

Image: Make-A-Wish