Birthday Boxes

As an advocate for Together We Rise and the work they do for children in foster care, I often talk about “sweet cases.” Sweet Cases are duffel bags that volunteers decorate, fill with comfort items and essentials, and deliver to their local foster agencies. I love that sweet cases are an easy, fun, and valuable way for people to make a difference in lives of children in need. But Together We Rise also offers other ways of helping and today I’d like to highlight their “Birthday Boxes.”

Growing up, I remember birthdays being wonderful days filled with laughter, fun, cake and presents. I would look forward to it every year and count down the weeks until it was June 4th. But the joy that I experienced is not always the case for children in foster care. Krizia, a former foster youth from Texas recalls this... “For me, birthdays just meant one more year in care, sort of like an anniversary. No cake, no balloons, no presents. Just another day that reminded me of how sad I was to be in the foster care system.” Or Gina, a former foster youth from New Jersey recalls, “Growing up in foster care extremely limited my ability to experience a birthday in a positive manner. I was often left alone, gift-less, and sad; this was my normal.”

Together We Rise wants to change that which is why they deliver Birthday Boxes. Each birthday box contains all the items needed to celebrate a memorable birthday including a crown, birthday card, button, happy birthday banner, water squirt toy, slinky, candles, candy, bubbles, sticky hand, color changing cup, party poppers, and balloons! A birthday box costs approximately $20.00 each. If you would like to donate, you can start a fundraising page with your friends to raise money to sponsor a Birthday Box Bundle. Once your goal is met, the box will be shipped to your home or office. 

After you’ve decorated the birthday boxes, Together We Rise will connect you to a local foster care agency in your community. If you have a preferred agency in mind, you are more than welcome to deliver your newly decorated Birthday Boxes there.

Like Sweet Cases, Birthday Boxes are another way to make a meaningful difference in lives of children in foster care. In the words of Marion, a former foster youth, “Birthdays should matter for everyone and if you are reading this blog I encourage you to grant a wish, a wish that some still may never understand or have the privilege of experiencing.”

For more information on Birthday Boxes, visit www.TogetherWeRise.org

Together We Rise,

Your Mrs. International 2018

LAUREN WEEKS