1- Q: What is "MACS"?
A: It's just short for Make A Child Smile... and we use it A LOT!!


2- Q: Is this a Pen Pal website?
A: No. MACS is not a Pen Pal website. Please read Question #7 for more information.


3- Q: Are the kids featured dying/terminal?
A: No and yes. Some kid's prognosis and life expectancy are VERY GOOD and they will probably live long lives. Unfortunately, some kids have illnesses with no cure or treatment and they are considered terminal. So please DO NOT refer to ALL kids on this website as terminal or dying. Just as "children with severe/chronic life-threatening illnesses" or simply "very sick kids".


4- Q: I did not understand the purpose of the website. What am I supposed to do?
A: All you have to do is go to each kid's individual page (Featured Kids or Previous Kids), read their story and write down their mailing address posted right next to their picture. Then just be creative and mail them cards, letters, gifts, crafts, etc... You can also go directly to the Addresses page and print out all mailing addresses instead of having to write down each one of them.


5- Q: How many kids should I send mail to? Which ones have received less mail? Which ones are more sick?
A: First of all, visit our Previous Kids page for a list of all current Active kids on MACS. How many kids you pick is entirely up to you. We do not know how much mail each child has received because all mail goes directly to the children and we do not ask parents to report a daily or monthly count to us. As for which kids are "more sick"... We prefer not to judge or single out which kids are more sick than others. In our eyes, they are all very sick. One illness may be more severe or fatal than another, but one less severe illness could have taken a turn to the worse, while the most severe could be stable. So each child's case is different. Once you read the kid's Biography and Updates, you'd be the judge, or let your heart be the judge as to which kid's stories have touched you the most.


6- Q: Do I need to sign up or become a member?
A: No, you don't need to sign up for anything! Just send MAIL to the kids as you wish! We do suggest that you subscribe to our MACS Newsletter so you can be the first to know what's going on around our website or/and subscribe to the Kid's Updates to stay informed on how the kids are doing.


7- Q: Will I receive a reply from the kids or their parents?
A: If you have supplied them with your e-mail or return address on your card, you might receive a card or e-mail from the parents or even from the children. But please do not expect a reply. These families lead very busy lives with doctors appointments, hospital visits, etc.. The children receive a lot of mail so it's hard for parents to reply to everyone who sends them mail. If you receive a reply, please do not insist that they become your online buddy.


8- Q: May I send an online greeting card or an e-mail to the kids instead of a card in the mail?
A: No. The purpose of MACS is to send REAL mail to the children featured. An online greeting card is cute, animated and plays music... but a REAL card in the mail is a lot more exciting for the kids because it's their own mail. A REAL card that someone took the time to buy or made on their computer, took the time to write with their own handwriting, took the time to mail it... A REAL card that the kids can hold in their hands and keep forever. We never give out the children's/parent's e-mail address to anyone (please do not insist). We have two reasons for that.. 1- Their privacy; 2- To maintain the main purpose of MACS which is to send real mail to the kids and not an e-mail or online greeting card.


9- Q: May I send mail directly to your Organization?
A: To Kids currently on the website (Active Kids) = No. Unfortunately we are not setup to handle the sorting and forwarding of so much mail to several different kids spread around the country. Mail needs to be sent directly to each child individually.
To our Angels' families = Yes. We do allow mail to our Angels' families, to be sent directly to us. Our Angels' families are not required to maintain a Mailbox address after their child has passed away. Therefore any mail for them should be sent to our MACS Mailbox and will be forwarded, unopened, to the family's home address.


10- Q: May I donate goods to your Organization? (Toys, clothes, electronics, etc...)
A: Unfortunately we do not accept donations of goods due to a lack of storage space and personnel to sort and distribute them. If you wish to send something to a MACS child, please mail it directly to the featured child's mailbox address. Or you may hold an eBay Auction by joining Mission Fish and sell your goods to benefit the Make A Child Smile Organization.


11- Q: Can MACS provide financial assistance to other Organizations, Orphanages, Shelters, Institutions, or a family going through financial difficulties?
A: Unfortunately not. MACS is not setup to provide financial assistance to other Organizations or children not featured on our website. Even for kids featured on MACS, financial assistance is very limited due to our very limited budget. Our Organization's MAIN purpose is to tell stories of children battling a serious illness, so that they can receive uplifting mail from those who visit our website.


12- Q: May I add a link on my Home Page back to this website?
A: Of course you may! You may add a link http://www.makeachildsmile.org or add our MACS Banner to your website. Please make note that "Make A Child Smile" is written with a CAPITAL A, not Make "a" Child Smile and it's not hyphenated as in Make-A-Child-Smile. Please do not refer to the children featured on MACS as "terminal" or "dying". Read Question #3 for more info.


13- Q: May I add the kids' pictures and/or information to my website?
A: No. That is a copyright violation unless you have our permission, which is usually only granted to other Organizations or Media websites.


14- Q: Do you have a flyer that I can use to help promote MACS?
A: Yes. Click HERE and print out the Kids Summary Page. Then post it at Schools, Churches, Offices, Businesses around your town, city or neighborhood. But you'll have to remember to go back there and change the flyer every month with the most current one!


15- Q: May I organize a fundraiser to help the Make A Child Smile Organization?
A: Yes, but as long as you have our permission! So please Contact Us and let us know what kind of fundraiser you plan on doing. Anyone fundraising without our permission will be prosecuted in the court of law. The ONLY type of fundraising that does not need our approval is if you use Mission Fish to sell items on eBay to benefit MACS. Visit our MACS on eBay page to learn more.


16- Q: How can I help MACS or become a Volunteer?
A: At this moment, we do not have any specific positions for Volunteers, but you can help us immensely by promoting MACS. Send the website link to your online friends or add our website link to message boards, chat rooms, guestbooks, your Home Page, the bulletin board where you work, etc.. You can add the MACS Banner to your website or print out our Flyer mentioned on Question #14!


17- Q: Why can't I click on some of the kid's pictures/name when I browse through the months?
A: It's because those kids are on INACTIVE Status. Please read the question below for more information.


18- Q: I keep seeing the word INACTIVE around the website. What does it mean?
A: All kids are featured on MACS for one month. After that month is over, families have the option of staying on MACS or not. If they wish to stay, the children's information is transferred to the Previous Kids section. In order for the family to remain ACTIVE on our website, they need to follow 3 Rules. 1) Maintain an open/current mailbox. 2) Send updates on their child's health status at least once every 90 days (they can send more updates if they wish). 3) Update their child's picture, biography, interests, etc.. once a year. Failure to follow any of these Rules will automatically put a child on INACTIVE Status.

Parents may also request that their child be put on INACTIVE status for various reasons such as the child is no longer ill, the family no longer needs the emotional support, etc...

Families are welcome to RE-ACTIVATE their child, if they wish to come back to MACS at a later time.


19- Q: What is a "MACS Graduate"?
A: When "kids" reach the age of 20, we obviously cannot call them "kids" anymore (it's a stretch already even for those in their late teens). And even if they are doing well, we do not make them leave our program, in order for people to continue reading about how they are doing. So we refer to them now as MACS Graduates.


20- Q: Does MACS have offices/chapters in other States or Countries?
A: No. MACS is solely a web based Organization with an office in Florida. We do not have any plans to expand to other States and/or Countries.


21- Q: Can MACS exchange links with my website?
A: We do not have a link exchange program. We will gladly add links to other Organizations, to our Links page, as long as they are related to children/illnesses (website still needs to be reviewed for acceptance). If your website is commercial or does not fall into the category mentioned above, then please visit our Sponsors page.


22- Q: I subscribed to your Mailing Lists but I am not receiving any posts!
A: First of all, check if posts are being sent to that List because we don't send them every day. Check each List's Archive (MACS Newsletter Archive & Kid's Updates Archive) and if you see posts that you did not receive by email, then you're really not receiving them.

If you're not receiving posts, there could be three reasons:

1- Our posts are not passing through your Spam/Junk filters that YOU have manually set.

2- Your email service (AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc...) is AUTOMATICALLY blocking our posts thinking it's Spam/Junk (because they see that it's an email being sent to a lot of people)

3- Your subscription did not go through. If you didn't receive a "subscription confirmation email" from FeedBlitz after you subscribed, then it didn't go through.

Unfortunately, nowadays, legitimate Mailing Lists are often confused with Spam/Junk because they are being sent to a lot of people.

How to fix, or try to fix all three problems above:

1- If you can manually configure your Spam/Junk Filters, you should configure it to allow emails from FeedBlitz@mail.feedblitz.com.

2- You need to contact your email service tech support and ask them to stop blocking emails from FeedBlitz@mail.feedblitz.com.

3- Same fix for #2. Your email service is not even letting the "subscription confirmation email" from FeedBlitz reach you. You need to tell them to unblock emails from FeedBlitz@mail.feedblitz.com.

If nothing works, we suggest that you subscribe to our Lists from a different email address/service until you find one that works.

We apologize for the inconvenience, it's not a matter of us changing how we sent posts to our list subscribers, but how Spam/Junk filters and email services are mistakenly thinking that legitimate Mailing Lists are the same as Spam/Junk mail.