Thursday, January 29, 2009

In Lieu of Gifts

Oh a mother's pride, I am so proud of Madison. For her 5th Birthday, which was back in August, she agreed to have a Charitable Birthday Party for her and 5 of her friends. Guests were asked to make a donation to the Ottawa Food Bank in lieu of birthday presents.  Information about the charity and the form for a tax receipt were sent with the party invitations. We gave Madi the choice of 3 different charities to choose from and she still received presents to open from her family.
This is the thank you card she just received from the Food Bank, she collected 10 pounds of food and $120 which for every dollar generates five dollars worth of food into the community. She is really proud of herself and she should be. 

We will continue to have charitable birthday parties for our kids once they reach age 5 and are old enough to understand and participate.  We encourage more families to do the same, just think of the possibilities . . .

2 comments:

  1. This is such a wonderful idea. I had heard of parents with new babies asking for donations to a charity instead of items for a baby shower, but this is very cool.
    A.T.

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  2. Marci, I LOVE this. For Owen bithday, we asked for no gifts. Owen only turned three and really doesn't make the connection of b-day=presents, and I didnt want more plastic cheep toys in my house, which I only end up donating anyways. I hope to do this too.
    Anne

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