When I was 15, I was diagnosed with Stage III Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Getting through that time…read morewas hard but my family, doctors, nurses, & Make A Wish helped me get through it with some smiles! I was lucky enough to be granted my wish to see London, England. I really urge any family member, friend, doctor to suggest Make A Wish to a child's family -child has to be between 2.5 yrs - 18 yrs old and has been diagnosed with a life threatening health condition- to recommend them to Make A Wish!! The network going on at this organization is really amazing - it is international and everyone I dealt with is amazing! So - hopefully next time you're at the checkout and you could donate a dollar you will think of this and donate - these kids need the smiles, believe me! http://www.newhampshire.wish.org

They do so much more than grant a wish, Make a wish changes lives and gives the gift of hope…read more The staff and wish granters care so much, this is not a 9-5 job for them. In addition you become part of the make a wish family. So well organized and thought of things to help us we would have never thought of! Thank you! Maria and Dave you are amazing!

I requested help from Big Brothers and Sisters when my daughter was in grade school and later on…read morefelt like an idiot. There were several places I went trying to get help for my daughter and some of them treated me like a con-artist trying to use them and informed me that "this is not babysitting"and did not grasp the real issue about my concerns for my daughter. I was NOT trying to make them into a babysitter. Big Brothers Big Sisters was one of these entities making this accusation on me and this is an abuse of their power. A Big Brother Big Sister supervisor came to our house to interview me and my daughter to find out what we were looking for in a big sister. I complained about how babysitters and other older people had not been very nice to her. I said I wanted someone dependable who does not cancel out at the last minute and who would be able to stay in touch with her for a long time. I even sent the matched volunteer a video tape of my daughter so she could see before she made a "yes" or "no" decision, what she was like. The supervisor that matched them up said the volunteer was dependable and that she understood my daughter's needs. My daughter was ecstatic when she met her new big sister. Each time her big sister came to get her, she was still ecstatic. Then the big sister started pulling no shows and one time even left a message on my answering machine with an excuse that "I wanted to call first so I wouldn't have to drive all the way over there and find out you were not there." I think I had already explained that I despise this particular ploy, which is really quite common. She knew very well that we were most likely waiting for her at our house and just could not make it to the phone. She knew also that she only lived ten minutes down the road from us. The no-shows had my daughter in tears. This was someone she loved and trusted who abandoned her with no regrets and no remorse. One day, I called her house after she said she would see my daughter on the weekend. I learned from her brother that she had been home from her college and went back. I was told by her however, that she was not even coming home that weekend and I thought this was sly, cunning behavior. When I told her supervisor, she adamantly sided with me. Then this supervisor quit Big Brothers Big Sisters and was replaced with new supervisor. When this case ended, my daughter's big sister did not even stop by to tell my daughter goodbye and did not even apologize for her continuous no-shows. The least she could have done was send her a card. We instead talked to this new supervisor. She had a smooth act and glossed things over very well in front of my daughter. Later on, I talked on the phone to this new supervisor and she defended the big sister/volunteer to me and insulted me by saying she was going to "give her a good reference." She said this with no concern for my feelings and no regard for the fact that my daughter had been hurt by her. I had to sit there and explain to this cunning supervisor that pulling no-call-no-shows and cancelling out at the last minute is emotional abuse. I tried to explain to her that the volunteer hurt my daughter's feelings. Then she started giving me a lot of manipulative responses that she thought were going to get me confused. Maybe she was used to manipulating a lot of gullible people. Her comment to me included that "The volunteers are not surrogate parents..." as if I was some sort of an idiot! I was NOT looking for a surrogate parent. After many failed attempts to reason with her, I just hung up. I was hoping for my daughter to have a trustworthy roll model and not a sly, cunning, older female. My daughter grew up having a lot of problems and the abandonment she experienced from her big sister was just another step in a bad direction. I thought they were running a sly operation and I really feel sorry for kids who get abandoned by people they were supposed to be able to trust.

Amazing organization. If you have a child who is in need of a positive role model in their life,…read moresign them up for a Big! This organization seriously changed my life

Lots of cool experiments and science learnings to keep the small kiddos entertained easily for…read more2hrs; nice space, 2 full floors of activities and get your kids engaged with STEM

We had such a blast! They had things for kids of all ages and for adults too! Everyone had a really…read moregreat time.