It was the birthday of one of my good friends last week. She’s a newscaster, and every year for the past 10 years, she’s been celebrating her birthday at the local orphanage near her home.
Its a great idea as not only does it make the kids happy, but its also a wonderful way to do something meaningful on your birthday. Last year, it was held it the orphanage itself, although some years my friend holds it it different venues. One year it was at a fun-fair at a huge mall (the escalators were fascinating to the kids who had never seen one before!), and another time it was at an animal shelter, who my friend (an ardent cat-lover) also does a lot of volunteer work for.
Although my friend foots most of the bill, she cleverly asks for sponsors to help out with various things, and they almost always agree to do it – like a fast-food place always does the food and even includes a mascot for entertainment, and this year she got a glitter-tattoo artist to come at cost.
She always sends out an email to all her friends with a list of things the children need – from necessities like medicine, milk and diapers, to more fun stuff like toys , books and art supplies.
Another thing she does is that we all get one child each for the day, and we bring a special present for them ( we get to know their age beforehand). Last time, my husband and I got a sweet little girl who was just thrilled with the simple presents we brought – slippers, “princess” school supplies etc….but was as excited to have our attention for an entire afternoon.
Since then, we’ve heard that she’s been adopted by a family in France!
Originally posted on June 29, 2010 @ 8:04 am