Celebrating children in our family and domestic violence shelters.
Birthday parties are a normal, happy part of childhood, and the gift of a birthday party provides hope and joy in the unsettled lives of children who are homeless. Since introducing the first birthday party to the children at Regent Family Residence, our family shelter on Manhattan’s West Side, hundreds of children and their families have enjoyed the thrill of a birthday party. We call this effort Brightening Birthdays™, and the method of delivery, Birthday-in-a-Box.
Each month, in our seven family and domestic violence shelters, all the children whose birthdays fall within that month are invited to a party where they receive three beautifully wrapped gifts, their siblings receive a goody bag, the children play games, and sometimes there is a face painter or balloon artist. There are always candles on a cake or cupcakes to blow out.