For many of you, birthdays mean two things: getting one year older, and getting stuff…LOTS of stuff.
There may be presents from parents and grandparents… or from other relatives…and even more from friends who come to your party.
And when you go to friends’ parties you get more stuff… goody bags filled with toys that often end up broken…or forgotten… or even thrown away. Birthdays today seem less about celebrating a special day, and more about GETTING.
But for some kids living in our country, even one birthday present is a luxury. Their parents don’t have the money for gifts, or for goody bags… or even for a birthday cake.
What if on your next birthday, as part of your regular party, one of the activities was to GIVE a birthday celebration, including cards, goody bags, and even cake to some very poor children to help them celebrate THEIR birthdays? That’s our Birthday Giving Party. Here’s how it works:
First, if you’re planning a “giving” party, please let us know by asking your mom or dad to email us at famtofamily@aol.com.
Second, invite your friends (Click Here For Printable Invitation) and ask them each to bring to the party:
- A gently used book for a child about their own age (not too big… it will have to fit into a shoebox sized box)
- A box of cake mix
- A can of frosting
- A package of candles
- Optional: A gently used party outfit for any aged child
Third, make sure you buy or have on hand the following items:
- Shoe-box sized craft boxes – one for each child
- Art supplies to decorate boxes and cards
- Empty goody bags
- Goody bag items
- Wrapping paper and ribbon for the gently used books
- Paper to make cards out of
- A big packing box to put all the shoeboxes in for mailing them
The idea is that each of you will decorate a craft box and fill it with birthday party items for one needy child. At the party everyone will:
- Wrap the book they brought
- Make a card for the child they are giving to
- Decorate and fill a goody bag (Instead of GETTING a fully loaded goody bag at the end of the party, you and your friends will each MAKE a goody bag for the very poor child you are giving to.)
- Pack the wrapped book, goody bag, card, cake mix, frosting and candles into the craft box
- Decorate or wrap the top and bottom separately of the craft box and label on the outside who it is for (e.g. “6-7-year old girl”) – Tie it closed with a ribbon
- Help pack all the boxes into one or two big packing boxes
As the birthday child, you’ll still get presents, but you’ll also be GIVING to someone else. And of course, you want your friends to leave with something…so we suggest the party guests take home small bags of candy, brownies or cookies……something edible and wonderful…and hopefully, a sense of having done something fun and meaningful!
Imagine how good it will feel to “get” that you are actually helping a child just like yourself celebrate, possibly for the first time… their special day!
Your “giving” party boxes will go to children in the impoverished Navajo community of Thoreau, New Mexico (click here for more information about this community), where outreach worker Kathy Spitz of the Navajo Child Drive will give them out to kids! Mail your boxes to:
Family-to-Family Birthday Boxes
c/o Kathy Spitz
Eastern Navajo Child Drive
20 Drake Rd
Thoreau, New Mexico 87323
Click here for printable label for your box.
One last thing... any party outfits donated by your guests should be sent to our “Best Dressed Babes” coordinator Natalie Barry to add to our “closet” of available party clothes for our receiving communities’ kids. Upon request from our on-site community partners we ship out recycled party clothes to some of our most impoverished children. Send clothes to:
Natalie Barry
F-to-F “Best Dressed Babes”
P.O. Box 255
Hastings on Hudson, NY 10706
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