Sophisticated Giving Spotlight: It's Your Birthday, Inc.
Sophisticated Details: The mission of It’s Your Birthday, Inc. is to create fun and memorable birthday experiences for children in homeless and domestic violence shelters. We understand this is a very difficult time for the family. Through research, we have learned children who are homeless need to have a feeling of being cared about. By providing birthday options for the mom or the child to select, we show we care about them on their special day.
• Birthday Party: We will plan and decorate a room within the shelter with a theme requested by the mother or child. The hosted party includes cupcakes, ice cream, juice, and other yummy treats. During the party, the children are provided the opportunity to select a fun decorated treat bag to stuff with chips, candy, and toys. The fun continues with minute-to-win-it games, a craft, or entertainment by a magician or balloon artist. The laughter is heard throughout the shelter. The birthday child(ren) are treated extra special with a happy Birthday Build-a-Bear or gift cards to a retailer or fast food restaurant.
• Birthday-in-a-Box: We will learn what the child likes and provide a box (decorated by volunteers) with a Happy Birthday Build-a-Bear, toys and a gift card from Schnucks Markets for the mom to purchase a special cake, ice cream, juice or the child’s favorite yummy snacks. If the birthday child is older, we provide him/her with several gift cards for retailers and fast food restaurants near the shelter. This allows them to have a special treat on their day. We intentionally provide enough to allow sharing with their family and/or friends. The birthday child is overjoyed when they receive their box of goodies.
• Birthday-in-a-Class: We will provide store-bought cupcakes for the child to share with his/her classmates on their birthday. The child is told the cupcakes are from their parent. This allows the parent to receive the credit for the great birthday memory. When the child returns from school, he/she says, “Thanks, Mom!”
• Birthday Surprise: We will offer the mom the opportunity to select a gift for their birthday child from our Amazon Wish List. If the mom or the child prefers an item that is not on our list; as long as it’s within budget, they can select it. We will schedule the gift to ship from Amazon directly to the shelter to allow the mom to wrap it and gift it to the child. Both mom and child are happy to receive the exact gift they may have wanted.
• Happy Born Day: We will offer the new mom the opportunity to select a gift for the newborn from our Amazon Wish List. If the mom prefers an item that is not on our list; as long as it’s within budget, they can select it. We will schedule the gift to ship from Amazon directly to the shelter. Providing these items are very helpful; as giving birth while in a shelter can add to a currently stressful situation.
Sophisticated Goals: Like most non-profits, Covid-19 has strained our operations. In 2019, we were able to host as many as 4-6 birthday parties per month. This was a fun time for the children and their parent. Today, we are only hosting 1-3 per month. It is sad when we have to tell a child, they can’t have a party. Children don’t understand the stress adults are currently under. Luckily, we have other birthday options available to help create a better birthday memory. Our goal is to continue to offer our services in all homeless and domestic violence shelters in the Missouri and Southern Illinois areas within the next three years. We would also like to expand our birthday options to ensure we are meeting the needs of all children in shelter. We currently serve 19 shelters and two school districts (as of November 2021).
Sophisticated Connections: The community loves birthdays! Currently, we operate 100% with volunteers and great partners. The collaboration with Maxine Clark, Sammy J Balloons, Abra-kid-Abra, Schnucks Markets, Panera, HiCo Balloons, Mission Taco, and High Pointe Drive-In have made it possible for us to provide a better birthday memory to more than 1,500 children in shelters in the St. Louis and Metro East areas since 2014. We invite all those in the shelter to join in the birthday fun. This makes for a great family affair in a time of crisis.
Sophisticated Giving: Make a difference in giving a child a memorable birthday experience. You can donate directly to us or host a party supply drive to collect: monetary donations, gift cards worth $15 from Target, Walmart, Dollar Tree, Subway, McDonald's, White Castle or donate small toys from our wish list. We are also in need of administrative assistance with fundraising efforts and organizing our social media accounts. Entertainment volunteers are also needed.