Remind me to use Share Your Wish, please!

"We continue to be proud our daughter chooses to "Share her wish" every year instead of asking for traditional gifts. As we read through the different charity options, she asks us questions about why each one exists and really begins to understand how many different people have struggles that she could never imagine."

"As a family we decided to participate in “Share Your Wish” for our twins 6th Birthday. We selected the Pediatric Cancer Foundation and A Birthday Wish. The Pediatric Cancer Foundation was in honor of a little boy in my sons class who died earlier this school year. He would have been invited to the party and we thought this was a beautiful way to honor him. My twins decided to use their share of the donation to purchase new bikes."

"We are super proud of our daughter Mila. She didn't want any presents or even any money towards a gift fund. She wanted to donate all the funds received towards the charity her mommy volunteers for which is the Sunrise Association. http://www.sunriseassociation.org Sunrise brings the joys of summer camp to children with cancer as well as their siblings completely free of charge. Besides what we raised on your site, our family is matching Mila's donations so Sunrise will be receiving double which is awesome. I felt that Share Your Wish was easy to use, provided useful and helpful tools and kept us connected with our guests leading up to the event and shortly thereafter. I believe that children should learn to give back at any age and I'm truly grateful and appreciative that a site like yours exists. I know most of Mila's friends just heard about this for the first time through her birthday wish but I've encouraged more and more friends to share their wish as well!"

"My child got to donate to his school's organization which has given so much to him. It is a great way to teach your child about giving back to the community."

"This is Seth's 2nd year sharing his birthday gifts with WJCS Kids' Kloset. Seth already knows the clothes he outgrows goes to kids in need. By including this donation as part of his birthday celebration, it helps him understand that he is helping kids who are just like him in many ways but who are in need of clothing, new underwear and socks, and other basic necessities. He is glad he and his friends can help in this way."

"Jackson chose to make a donation and help others. With the help of his friends he chose to support The Children's Brain Tumor Foundation and raised over $500 (in 2 years) for programs to help brain and spinal cord tumor survivors. These donations were made through Share Your Wish where Jackson asked to have a donation made instead of receiving a gift for both his 5th & 6th Birthday's. The funds support programs that help with socialization, transitions and just plain fun for kids! For more information on Children's Brain Tumor Foundation visit www.cbtf.org"

"Reese and I used Share Your Wish to help us celebrate her 9th Birthday. Since we were having her party at there SPCA of Westchester, where we adopted our dog Ginger from, we chose the SPCA as our charity to share Reese’s birthday gifts. How great it felt to be able to help the animals there and still get something in the mail for Reese to put towards the new Lego sets she has been wanting. Thank you everyone at Share Your Wish for bringing such an amazing organization to our community."

"Amanda has always been a kind, nurturing, and empathetic child. When I suggested the idea of Share Your Wish to Amanda, she was immediately excited. After the party invitations were sent out, she would have me frequently checking your website to see if donations were made. Amanda had a wonderful 8th birthday shared with friends and 8 puppies! All of the money raised was donated to Birthday Fairies and Adopt-A-Dog in honor of her puppy themed party. Thank you Share Your Wish for making a fantastic day even better!"

"When my good friend told me about "Share your Wish", I was so excited! I knew that this would be the best and most tangible way to introduce philanthropy to our little guy. My husband and I were so fortunate to have had the help of friends to get us through a very difficult pont in our life. We want our son to know that helping others, especially in times of need, is our duty. Ronan is so happy to have shared his wish with Wounded Warriors and we are so proud of him! "

"As a parent I find I'm constantly playing a balancing game - trying to raise well rounded, generous and happy children. I found Share Your Wish incredibly helpful with this task. Aiden and I read about all the different charities he could give his "donation fund" to and this lead to amazing discussions about how fortunate he is and how much he has, and how so many children do not (be it his health, his home, or something as special as having a birthday party.) I'm proud that he specifically chose charities that would allow children to enjoy some of the luxurious he sometimes takes for granted. I'm so glad someone introduced your web site to us prior to his birthday last year (this is his second year sharing his wish) and I look forward to continue using it in the future."

"Reese was so excited to have her second Share Your Wish Birthday Party when she turned 8. She had a basketball party with her friends which her Papa Pick was in charge of. The charity she chose on Share Your Wish was the SPCA of Westchester, where we adopted our dog, Ginger, from almost 2 years ago, and Reese is thrilled that her birthday will go to helping Ginger’s friends. She is going to use her portion of birthday money to purchase furniture for the dollhouse that was recently handed down to her. Thank you to everyone at Share Your Wish for helping to make Reese’s 8th Birthday Celebration perfect! We will be returning next year when she turns 9!"

"We are so glad we used Share Your Wish for our son¹s 8th birthday party. He loved being able to support a local cause of his own choosing (hunger and homelessness in our town), and it was really nice for him to choose the exact present he wanted with his gift fund. A win-win for all! Here are pictures of our son celebrating; the party theme was the American Revolution, in case you¹re curious about his costume!"

We had such a wonderful experience seeing David share his 5th birthday wish with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Share Your Wish made the process incredibly easy and convenient for us and our guests. David's shark-themed pool party was complemented by the fact that his friends and family members were helping him support the well being of the many ocean creatures he adores. Share Your Wish was not only willing, but enthusiastic about accommodating our request to direct David's donations to WWF's "Adopt a Dolphin." And in addition to receiving his certificate from Share Your Wish, David received an adoption kit from WWF so that he can remember the good he did by choosing to share his wish! In addition, with his gift fund, he was able to pick out a gift he really wanted and save some for a future gift. This experience afforded us an opportunity to teach David monetary value - both for personal indulgences (i.e., toys) and for helping others. Thank you, Share Your Wish!

"A.J. had his third year in a row of doing a Share a Your Wish birthday party and it was a wonderful experience. His guests really appreciated the opportunity to help with a charity as part of our birthday celebration and. A.J. will be making a special purchase with his portion of the money raised when he returns from camp. Thank you to everyone at Share Your Wish for creating such a special organization."

"Very proud of my boys who agreed to donate a large portion of their gifts for their 6th birthday to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital! They were very happy to receive their certificates from Share Your Wish. It's a great way to teach your kids about charity! Happy Birthday boys! We honestly couldn't ask for better kids.

Maisie has always been a very empathetic little girl, constantly questioning why people (and animals!) weren't always in comfortable situations. We were quite proud of Maisie when she was so excited about the idea of sharing her birthday gifts with those less fortunate than her. After much deliberation, she decided on donating to the ASPCA and Reach Out and Read - organizations that support two of her favorite things in the world, animals and reading. Maisie was so excited to celebrate with her friends at her party and it was so great to enjoy the day and not worry about bringing home lots of "things" that we would have to find space for. The focus stayed on her birthday, and not on the gifts. After, 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.

"It is really important to us that Aiden learn that there are people less fortunate than him and that he can help them. During the holiday season we adopt a family with our playgroup and Aiden selects gifts for one of the children. I was thrilled when I discovered Share Your Wish and we could continue the tradition of Aiden giving to people less fortunate."

"As a 4 year old, the concept of charity is a tough one. But since her big sister did it, Liza was thrilled to be able to Share Her Wish this year!! She got to help 3 important organizations, and we were able to buy her a bike from all of her friends!!! It was a win-win! Thanks!"

"At first my daughter was a bit hesitant about using Share Your Wish for her 6th birthday celebration. Once she fully understood how she could help others, as well as celebrating her birthday with all her friends and getting the gifts she really wanted, she was so excited to share her birthday wish with her chosen charities. We spoke in great detail about the choices of charities, and the ones she chose were near and dear to her heart. After her party, she was so proud of herself and what she accomplished! The beaming smile on her face as we spoke about how much money she raised to help others was priceless. Share Your Wish gave our daughter the opportunity to do good in the world at the age of 6, and we are so grateful. This is a wonderful and easy way to incorporate giving back into any birthday celebration."

"Thank you so much for helping us to have an amazing birthday party! Our family recently suffered a tremendous loss and is was very important for us to celebrate something happy! Share your wish not only made the inviting and organizing simple, the ability to give back to my daughters school was wonderful! We love share your wish for it's mission and for the message. Many people have helped us in these past few months and it was great for Emily to get something special and for us to give something back!"

"Share your wish is a wonderful way to teach about giving and sharing. It was so easy and my daughter was so excited to help the animals at the Yonkers animal shelter. We visited the shelter a few days after her event and it really helped her to feel like she could make a difference. We will definitely use the site again. Thank you."

"To be honest, it took a few tries before Abigail was able to fully understand what Share Your Wish was all about, but once she got it, she was so proud to be raising money for organizations that had such meaning to our family. We were thrilled to give her the opportunity to be a philanthropist at age 6, and our guests loved the ease and beauty of it all! The folks at Share Your Wish were a pleasure to work with, and it made the whole experience so meaningful for our whole family. We hope we inspired our friends to do the same for their children's birthdays!"

"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. 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!!! We will always be using share your wish, 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!!!"

"We really loved controlling the gifts our child receives and letting them decide what is most important for them to have. It helps to teach them not only about charity, but about prioritizing. The single best feature of SYW was being able to choose and add our own charity if we wanted, or the great existing ones on the site to select from. Tip: Include your child no matter if they are turning 3 or 10. Take the opportunity to really make them interested and connect with an organization that is doing good in the world or working for a cause."

"The most positive takeaway from using SYW was being able to expose my child to charity. My 5 year old was extremely proud to receive letters from the charities addressed just to her thanking her for contributing. It was a real "grown-up" moment for her. Also great was the countless "thank yous" from guests that they didn't have to rush to Target on the day of the party to buy a hunk of plastic. Tip: Talk about the specific charity and to the extent possible, let them get involved with choosing the charities. This way your child beings to understand the people that they are "sharing" their birthday with."

"There are so many great things about using SYW for your child’s birthday party. Aside from the charity aspect, which is amazing, this brilliant idea completely eliminates clutter, teaches your child to prioritize and reinforces the concept of quality over quantity. The single best feature of SYW was the how easy and user friendly the website was. It took almost no time to set up the invitation and my guests LOVED not having to schlep to the toy store! One tip I would pass on to future guests is to always have the SYW dashboard up on your phone. My son was so involved in the process that he asked about how much he was raising for the charities everyday. He was part of the process from the beginning. He chose the charities he wanted to support and was so excited when he got the thank you letters from the charities after his party."

"Our kids LOVED being able to pick their own toys and had so much fun shopping, but at the same time, we could really feel like we did something positive for their birthdays. We were able to shift the focus away from the "stuff" and focus more on the child and what they really wanted. It makes birthdays SO easy, for both the host AND guest! Tip: I think a lot of parents are concerned that their kids will feel that their birthdays are incomplete without that giant pile of toys to open after a party. I assure you, they won't be. I've seen it in my kids - getting the stuff they "want", rather than what other people buy, is a lot more fun. And it creates an opportunity to have a conversation with your child about how we can do good things for other people that aren't as lucky as we are. Even 3 and 4 year olds can understand that."

"This is Amelia enjoying the present she received from all her friends and family who contributed to 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!"

"Kids are so sweet at this age (five). Levi understood perfectly well that if he gave away some of his birthday "presents", he would be getting fewer. Didn't matter to him. The idea of sharing, the selflessness of that act, is exactly why we chose to use Share Your Wish. There is no doubt he internalized this experience and I'm not sure we'll ever do birthdays the old way ever again. He got an amazing bunch of Lego's as a present (courtesy of his many guests, plus a bit from Mom and Dad) and couldn't have been happier if the pile was 2x as big. Really. Instead of wasting that excess happiness, we gave it away to where it could be put to great use (American Foundation for Disabled Children and Friends of Karen). SYW was easy to set up, and many of our guests thanked us for making their lives simpler too."

"Our five-year-old son was thrilled to choose his own birthday presents and began to understand the dollar value of each one. He selected very carefully! As parents, we were happy to offer a tangible lesson in sharing. Our guests didn't have to worry about finding the perfect present -- or any present for that matter -- before the party. Given everyone's busy schedules, this was a gift to the guests. Tip: If possible, choose or add a charity that helps someone your child knows personally. Particularly with younger children, this will help them understand the concept of helping others. (In our case, we included Cerebral Palsy of New Jersey's Horizon School, which Sammy's cousin attends)."

"We loved the fact that we didn't have a gazillion toys to open the big day. My son always got so wired up by the toy opening, to the point that he didn't appreciate any of it - and even became cranky. This way, his mood was stable because he knew what his presents were beforehand. The donation to charity is such an amazing feature. It's all about teaching kids to share and not hoard. I also love going to SYW parties because I never have to scramble for a last minute gift because I already gifted on the site!. It's a huge relief, and I'm thrilled when other people show a concern for the environment and teaching their kids when they use SYW."

"This was a hugely positive experience for everyone including guests. SYW was as simple as any event service like evite.com (better actually), but the icing on our cake was supporting a really worthwhile charity. Sophie didn't even hesitate when we asked if she would share her birthday wish. She got it, immediately. Engaging her in the whole process was the really critical part. We did have a few family members that declined to participate and chose to bring their own gifts but that was not an issue at all. SYW helped us, as parents, focus Sophie's day on partying with her friends. But come on, a kid needs gifts too... she got a great new bike from all her friends!! So cool!"