“ When I first proposed to my almost-6-year old daughter Liesl the idea of sharing her wish in lieu of receiving a ton of presents at her birthday party, her response was, “No thanks!” I didn’t want to force the issue but really was hoping to find a way to inspire her to do something for others in need. I reached out to our town’s mothers’ group on Facebook and asked for suggestions. One friend responded that her daughter was doing Share Your Wish, and that they motivated her to do it by helping her learn more about the charity she could support. In their case it was the animal shelter from where they had adopted their kittens. Coincidentally, we ran into that very same mother and daughter that afternoon, and in front of Liesl, I asked my friend's daughter Lily all about her decision to share her wish and about the animal shelter she was supporting. Liesl listened but seemed unimpressed! That night at dinner, I said, “Isn’t it cool that Lily is sharing her wish?” To which, Liesl replied, “Can I share my wish, too?” ???? Liesl was inspired by two types of charities, those that help sick children and those that help animals, and so she chose Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and the ASPCA. Shortly after Liesl's birthday party, my friend who is a doctor at CCMC gave Liesl a tour of the hospital and explained how the hospital serves sick children and their families. She told everyone they met that Liesl had made a donation to the hospital, and I know that made Liesl feel really proud. Shortly after that outing, Liesl and I went to volunteer at an animal shelter with my cousin, an animal lover and regular animal shelter volunteer. That day at the animal shelter was one of the highlights of Liesl’s summer! Finally, as Liesl’s gift, we took the money from the gift fund and gave her a budget to shop for some items at the American Girl Doll store, her favorite place on the planet! ???? This was a great experience for Liesl in so many ways. THANK YOU!!

“ From the time she was little, Maisie has been a very empathetic little girl, always concerned with the plight of others and constantly questioning why people (and animals!) weren't always in comfortable situations. We knew in our hearts that when we approached Maisie with the idea of sharing her birthday presents with those less fortunate than her, that she would agree to do so. But we were so proud of her when she not only agreed to donate her gifts to charity, but also when she happily decided to give a full half of what she received to charity. Maisie diligently scanned the list of possible charitable organizations, looking for those that spoke to her. After much deliberation, she decided on the ASPCA and Reach Out and Read - organizations that support two of her favorite things in the world - animals and reading. She was truly excited to donate to these charities, and loved checking in every few days to see how much money was going to them - only a few times did she ask about what her share would be. By the day of her party Maisie was so excited to celebrate with her friends and it was so nice to enjoy the day and not worry about bringing home lots of gifts and "things" that we would have to find space for. The focus stayed on her birthday, and not the gifts. After her party, she was thrilled to receive letters from the charities, thanking her for her donations. She was also so excited to be able to purchase an iPad on her own with her half of the gifts, a present that will always remind her of her friends and of the time she chose to Share Her Wish.

“ I just wanted to say that Sydney's 7th birthday was such a success, due in part to Share Your Wish!!! The ease of the process from start to finish was amazing. I love the ease of being able to rsvp and 'get your gift' at the same time (I am all about creating efficiencies). Furthermore, guests / guests parents were truly moved by the fact that our 7 year old was using a portion of her gift to help support causes that our family feels strongly about! It was nice to know that we weren't going to have tons of small little gifts that Sydney would open and play with for 5 minutes and then move on to the next. Sydney was super excited about her American Girl shopping spree that she had the day after her party with the proceeds she received through share your wish! It was a second day to celebrate!!! She understood that she had a certain amount of money to buy the things that she really wanted and she was so excited to make her own choices!! We will always be using Share Your Wwish, as it not only teaches an amazing lesson to the birthday child and guests, but it helps to streamline the birthday process!! Yay, Share Your Wish!!!

“ Thank you for helping to collect money so I could buy "THE LEGO STAR WARS DEATH STAR" And donate to the Chrones and Colitis Foundation to help people with my daddy's disease.

“ I can't say enough about Share Our Wish! The website was so easy to use and set up. We will be using your site for years to come. It was such amazing learning experience for my daughter.

“ We can't thank your website enough for organizing our party and collecting funds for Brandon's birthday gift. We feel so good inside to share his gift with the selected charities. We look forward to using the site every year to teach our son the value of giving to others on our special days.

“ This is Amelia enjoying the present she received from all her friends and family who contributed ti her donation and gift fund via Share your wish! We contributed to three very worthy charities while making one little girl very happy! My favorite part was watching her carefully open and read all the cards and drawings she got from her friends following her birthday party. She didn't miss the gifts at all and waited a week until receiving her special gift. It was was a wonderful way to teach her about giving and what is really important. Thanks so much for doing this!

“ I like Share Your Wish because half the money goes to me and half goes to the charity. I like Share Your Wish because I got a Wii and because I got to help sick children. It was fun to have a SYW party!

“ Share Your Wish provided us with the perfect solution to planning our daughter's recent bday party. The website guided us easily through invitations, replies, and tracking the guest list. More importantly, SYW's mission and philosophy helped us instill in our daughter (and her party guests) the idea and importance of helping others through sharing and giving. It is never too early to start educating children about charity and the values attached to helping others. What better way to do it than by sharing their special day and birthday wishes with those who are in need or less fortunate. Thank you for developing such a user-friendly and meaningful website that everyone should use when planning their next event!

“ We just used Share Your Wish for our son's 5th birthday party and had a terrific experience. The website is easy to use and the customer service was quick and responsive to my questions. Our son's birthday party had to be re-scheduled 2 days before the party because of an unforeseen circumstance and it was so easy to use the site to email everyone about the change. But better yet, my son was able to go to the store and pick ONLY the toys he wanted - he's obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and was able to get all the items he had his eye on and didn't already have - no duplicates, no returns, no gift receipts, and most importantly, no piles of toys he's never going to play with. We talked in the days leading up to his party about what charity means, and why we were doing the party this way and he totally understood and appreciated it. Truly, it was a pleasure to have a party using your site - easy to use, a wonderful learning lesson for our son and no more unused toys stacking up in our guest room!

“ Share Your Wish was a fantastic idea that turned into a phenomenal reality. We just used it for our son's 4th birthday party and were amazed at how user-friendly the site is for both the party planners and for the guests. What surprised us most was how peaceful it was to come home after the party. The usual rush to unwrap the gifts and get the thank you notes written, stamped and in the mail box was gone. My son was able to pick exactly what he wanted for his birthday, all excess was eliminated and he loved the idea of helping other people. Share Your Wish really makes the birthday about your child, and not about the gifts they receive. Thank you!!

“ Share Your Wish has been a great way to teach my son about giving back to the community and helping those less fortunate than us. He has already been invited to several parties that have chosen to use this website. Each time he receives an invitation, we sit down together at the computer and I explain the purpose of each of the host's chosen charities, and my son picks the one that he would like to help out. I love the certificate that you can print out afterwards, it such a nice feature. Seeing something tangible really helps him understand what he did and makes him feel so proud!

“ I have been invited to 3 Share Your Wish parties and can not wait to use them for my daughter's parties. What a great way to teach your kids about the gift of sharing. As a guest, it was so great to choose the charity to donate to, frantic trips to the toy store were eliminated and the guest of honor got just the gifts he/she wished for. A wish come true for everyone!

“ We recently used Share Your Wish for our daughter's 3rd Birthday. Not only was it a fabulous and easy way to have everyone invited contribute to the ultimate group gift (a shiny new big girl bike with all the trimmings!), it was a great way to introduce on a personal level the value and importance of giving back. Although she is of course too young to understand what charity means, kids are never too young to learn to act of sharing and brightening someone else's day. We are looking forward to using the site for years to come and teaching this message and instilling this value in our children. What better way to do it than letting your kids feel like a giving star!

“ I liked doing Share your wish because the kids get to buy the gifts that they really really want and they are also donating some of it to charity. The charities need money to keep going and to keep helping people. So I helped the charities and my friends helped me to get the gift i wanted- the lego death star!

“ As a parent of 3 children, ages 8, 6 and 3, I love the idea of Share Your Wish because it teaches your kids the value of giving to charity and sharing their special day with others who are less fortunate than them. My children already have more toys than they need and this also allows them to pick one special gift that they really want rather than getting more small gifts that often get played with for a short period of time and tossed aside. I just did it for a small party for my 8 year old and everyone contributed and commented on what a great idea it is. I am excited to use it again next month for my other 2 kids.

“ I have used Share Your Wish for a number of my twins birthdays. I have always loved the concept of contributing to an organization and the gift fund. The idea the children can decide what they truly want as a present from their friends is wonderful. This year they turned 10 and it became a bigger conversation for them on the type of organizations they would like to support. A lot of thought went into the decision. They decided to use the gift fund towards an activity on this summer vacation. Share Your Wish is a phenomenal company!