doing good together
Birthday Bag Blitz

By Robin Sauerwein

Sometimes it’s hard to think of what to give a child for his birthday. Many people, including parents, already know that their kids have way too much stuff. This realization came to me early in my son’s life when he was bombarded with birthday presents from relatives he rarely saw but who felt obligated to give him a gift. But he is fortunate to have people in his life who think of him on his birthday.

Celebrating a child’s birthday is a joyous thing unless that child lives in a shelter. Then often birthdays are not even acknowledged. When a volunteer at a shelter asked a small child named Mike about the date of his birthday, his response was, “I don’t have a birthday.” He was six years old at the time and no one had ever recognized his birthday. But then an organization by the name of Cheerful Givers changed that by giving him a birthday gift bag.

Cheerful Givers is a non-profit organization founded in 1994 after founder Robin Maynard-Steele visited a food shelf and found parents who were desperately trying to find something to give their children on their birthday. Cheerful Givers works to give parents living in poverty a way to acknowledge their children’s birthdays by providing birthday bags full of gifts.

Bags are filled with books, stuffed animals, games, crayons, toys and candy. The gift bags are then distributed anonymously to the children, ages 3-12 years, through shelters and food banks. Over 150 shelters and food shelves distributed their birthday bags last year. They also partner with Harvest Heartland who distributes gift bags along with their food. They’ve come a long way spreading their work. In May, during a special event, Cheerful Givers created their 300,000th gift bag.

If you are looking for something different and meaningful to do with your grandchildren, then why not hold a birthday bag blitz for Cheerful Givers? You and your grandkids can get together at any time, even in your own home, and fill gift bags with toys. Then take them to a food shelf or shelter in your community.

This is a great activity for family gatherings or as a birthday activity, where your group gathers new toys and creates birthday bags. Just let Cheerful Givers know how many bags you filled and where you took them. Complete instructions along with a list of places to bring the bags are available on the Cheerful Givers website www.cheerfulgivers.org.

What is unique about Cheerful Givers is that no other organization is providing a way for less fortunate parents to recognize their child’s birthday. By doing this they also provide an increased public awareness and commitment to the well-being of all children.

“When they volunteer to assemble birthday bags, youth and adults are educated in the importance and value of volunteerism and philanthropy,” noted Karen Kitchel, president of Cheerful Givers.

“Cheerful Givers actually provides two very important gifts. We are teaching some individuals to receive, and others to give,” she said.

Kitchel said that the items like small stuffed bears inside a birthday bag are often the item that travels with a child when he/she must travel from shelter to shelter.

“While many organizations and families provide toys for less fortunate kids at Christmas, we believe it is most important for children to have one day they don’t have to share with everyone else,” she said.

And as their website firmly states, “Every child deserves a happy birthday.”

Note to Grandparents
As you might imagine, during this sluggish economy, donations have been very low and the non-profit organization is also in need of individuals and organizations to come forward to make monetary donations.

Donations can be done online at www.cheerfulgivers.org.

If you are interested in being a Cheerful Givers volunteer and help out in other ways, you can contact karen@cheerfulgivers.org for a list of different positions like online research, newsletter writers, and many more.

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