My 30th birthday was in January 2008. I love celebrating birthdays and I've done so recently at ski parks, roller skating rinks, and dueling piano bars.
I wanted to do something big for the big 3-0 so I decided to use my birthday to help others celebrate theirs, in partnership with a non-profit organization called Cheerful Givers. In a nutshell, Cheerful Givers provides toy-filled birthday gift bags to children who are homeless or living in poverty because everybody deserves to be recognized on their birthday.
My 30th birthday project had four phases. Phase 1 - Collecting Money & Toy Donations Forty-three generous friends, family members, co-workers, and strangers donated money over a 3 month period - for a total of $2366! An additional 9 people donated various toys and gift items such as Play-Doh, drawing books, and stickers. I am very thankful for all of the donations!
Phase 2 - Shopping Spending $2000+ on toys was so much fun! Generous discounts provided by two companies allowed me to buy enough toys to make 500 bags! Each bag contained 16 items - mini rainbow slinkie, dream bracelet, mini high bounce ball, rainbow crayon, memo pad, alphabet ruler, mini card game, chocolate gold coin, stuffed animal, plastic jump rope, two big star stickers, mini happy birthday bubbles, 6-in beach ball, Hooray for You book, and a miscellaneous item.
Phase 3 - Assembling & Delivering Bags
On January 12th, 50 volunteers met at the Redmond Regional Library to stuff the birthday bags. What a sight it was! There were piles and piles of toys, tables full of colorful tissue paper and ribbon, and volunteers of all ages pitching in and having fun. It was a joy to watch the bags come together and rewarding to see the finished product - 500 bright, festive birthday bags! I was truly amazed at how many people showed up, how eager everybody was to help, and how fast the volunteers worked! After we finished decorating the bags, we enjoyed some cupcakes, loaded the bags into 6 vehicles, and delivered them to Hopelink in Bellevue. Click here to view some photos.
Phase 3 - Distributing the Bags
Hopelink in Bellevue shared the bags with the Redmond and Kirkland Hopelink locations. Employees of Hopelink distributed the bags to parents of children ages 3-12 through their food banks and transitional housing programs. The parents were relieved to know they could provide their children with at least 1 gift on their birthday, which hopefully had a positive impact on the children's self-esteem and the parent-child bond.
I really appreciate all the support I received for my 30th birthday project. I owe special thanks to:
Karen Kitchel, Cheerful Givers President, for her mentorship and inspiration
Mary Trask, ARAS Foundation Founder, for her support and assistance recruiting volunteers Jonathan Keller, my husband, for being the "go-to guy" during the event, living in a house full of boxes, and supporting my involvement in Cheerful Givers
And, of course, I am very thankful for the the 52 people who donated money or toys and the 50 people who donated their time! I appreciate your generosity and I know deserving kids in Puget Sound will appreciate it too!
Briana Keller