#1 - it means you actually get to celebrate your birthday this year.
#2 - it means you expect people to bring gifts.
#3 - it means that all 'your' gifts will go to someone else in need!
You have a party,
you choose the cause,
you choose the donation type (books, money, canned goods, clothes, toiletries)
you have the best birthday ever!
Here are some examples:
SETH TURNS FIVE!
Seth asked his friends to bring books to donate to Rota Books instead of bringing him new toys...
(below is an excerpt from Becky's post about their party,
for the whole story, go HERE...
if you want to ask her a question, you can find her there!)
"This year Seth turned 5. We talk a lot about doing hard things around here. Things we would want someone to do for us, if we couldn't do it for ourselves. So with having a big birthday party we didn't want to re-accumulate all the toys we just got rid of. Plus Seth was getting a lot of gifts from family. So I prayed for a special birthday project for him and found it: Books for Rota.
I read about this project in a magazine, and you can read more about it at HERE.
Seth and I talked about it and he agreed to collect books for Rota for his birthday project and we prayed. He asked God for 100 books. That is a lot for a 5 year old to imagine. I made him a sticker chart with 100 places on it. We counted after his party and stickered up the page. We got about 106 books (with more on the way.) He was so excited to see that God did what we asked. We will be mailing the books at the end of the summer, and two other groups of grown ups may be doing this project as well. All because he was willing to share his birthday with kids who don't have as many books as he has. We are very proud of our new 5 year old!!!"
LIZ GIVES UP HER 35th BIRTHDAY!!!
(because who says birthdays are only for kids!?)
"For my 35th birthday, please come and celebrate with me at a luau in my backyard,
but instead of bringing gifts, please bring a donation that will go towards a fund to buy goats or chicks for starving families.
(World Vision)
LET'S SEE HOW MANY GOATS AND CHICKS WE CAN BUY!"
The luau was a success and so much fun.
And it would have been even without a cool invitation or themed party.
It's about your heart, the cause and people's excitement to be able to be a part of something bigger!
Those are two examples to get your creative juices flowing.
If you need another cause to choose from, here are a couple:
Charity:water
an excerpt from their website:
"In September of 2008, over 800 people gave up birthday gifts and asked for donations from friends, family and strangers. Together with matching gifts, almost $1,000,000 was raised to bring clean water to people in Ethiopia. We knew they were on to something. Since then, we've been busy building a website where everybody can give up their birthday, but also use weddings, anniversaries and holidays - run marathons, climb mountains and jump out of planes - or just create a fundraising page to give people clean drinking water. Join us."
Your local food bank or homeless shelter
(if you don't know where your nearest one is or what they need you can:
1. Google 'food bank/homeless shelter and the name of your town' or
2. Call any church office, it doesn't even have to be a church you know, the secretary will have the information you need.
collect canned goods, fresh fruits (donate quickly ;-), diapers, toothbrushes, etc...
or, ask what they need most and go from there!
Ok, who's gonna do it!?
I'd love to hear your birthday stories!
Seth update - He got a little package in the mail from Rota in December. They wrote him a lovely thank you note and sent him some cute magnets that are on our fridge. Seth's response - "I can't wait to do another birthday project for when I turn 6!" So excited that he is getting it that is is better to give than receive.
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