Great news! Donors like you raised $5,688 during our 2022 Go Fund Me Campaign, making sure that children living in local shelters are celebrated on their birthdays. Thank you so much!
Even better, our $10,000 matching donor has agreed to donate the full amount, meaning that $15,000 will keep this program funded for another year.
We’ve already delivered an $800 starter kit to a new family shelter, the Garden Center in Oakland.
Thank you for keeping children experiencing homelessness in your hearts, and for allowing us to give them a day of joy.
Donations will be used to sustain and expand the number of shelters and children this program serves. To date, 22 parties serving over 230 children have taken place.
Any day is a good day to support the expansion of this sweet program! Please donate through Habitot’s secure website today.
For years before the pandemic, Habitot hosted birthday parties in the museum for children experiencing homelessness and living in local shelters.
When the pandemic closed the museum in 2020, Habitot created the “Birthday-in-a-Box” program to deliver all-inclusive kits for ten shelters including reusable party decorations, a hand-pump for balloons, parachutes, balls, plenty of art and play materials, piñatas and party favors, and of course, $15 gift cards for the birthday children. Cakes4Kids contributes birthday cakes to every shelter that wants them.
Thanks to donors like you, new shelters in Alameda and Contra Costa County have been able to join the program. And we’re expanding – see fundraiser above. Together, we’re giving children experiencing homelessness birthdays they might otherwise miss out on.
Help us continue to expand this program, which can be scaled to reach many more children!
“Leading up to the party, I asked the kids if they had ever had a birthday party with decorations and cake, and almost none of them had. They were so excited, even just the days before.”
– Caseworker at Bridget House, Women’s Daytime Drop-in Center
“It was perfect timing with the first delivery! We just had a birthday party and it was totally perfect! The candy and piñatas…everything!”
– Kimber Murillo, Children’s Program Coordinator, Building Futures
“Everything in the [birthday kit] box worked perfectly for us! Thank you so much. It’s really amazing, the kids have lots of fun!”
– Yareth Rodriguez, Development Associate Volunteer Coordinator, Shelter INC.
“The boxes were wonderful! We were able to do 4 and a half parties! We did really well, the moms were very excited to have balloons, piñatas, and gift cards. We wouldn’t have been able to have this [birthday party] if it wasn’t for you guys, so we are very grateful.”
– Shannon Peoples, Office Staff Member, Love-A-Child Missions Homeless Recovery Shelter
To launch the Birthday-in-a-Box program in Spring 2021, over 50 donors stepped forward to donate to a GoFund Me Campaign. The Lowell Berry Foundation matched the funds raised. Now in 2022, an individual family has donated over $10,000 to sustain the program and a GoFundMe matching challenge is underway.
Donations are used to expand the number of shelters and children we serve. To date, 22 parties serving over 230 children have taken place.
We’d also like to thank Cakes4Kids for providing birthday cakes for this program!
