Every cause needs a champion; someone to spread the message, keep issues visible and motivate people to take action.

Yahoo! is honored to have partnered with Mashable on the Most Influential Social Good Champion Award given last week to recognize individuals and organizations making a difference and inspiring others to do the same.  At Yahoo!, we are focused on connecting individuals to a community of millions so they can change the world together. That’s How Good Grows at Yahoo!.

So who won? The Mashable community selected WWE star wrestler John Cena.

John Cena has been devoted to The Make-A-Wish Foundation since 2004 and has granted more than 200 wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses. He has received the foundation’s highest honor, the Chris Greicius Celebrity Award, and has been named a Wish Ambassador. He also grants wishes with the Kids Wish Network. He uses his online presence to encourage his fans to take part in granting wishes, encouraging his fans to help donate millions of frequent flyer miles to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Executive VP of WWE Interactive, Brian Kalinowski, accepted the award on behalf of Cena, saying:

“John, as you may know, is a phenomenal philanthropist. … He just granted his [200th] wish this year. It’s a huge honor for us to be associated with John, and I know he’s thrilled to partake in what he does online to help the social program.”

Five candidates were nominated by the Mashable community: Uncultured, John Cena, Hardly Normal, Chris Hughes, and charitybuzz.

All have done amazing things to create positive change in this world and have used social media to amplify their efforts in powerful ways. Congratulations to John Cena and all the nominees.

You, too, can grow the good on Yahoo!. Visit kindness.yahoo.com to share your good deeds and see how good grows.