For your next birthday celebration, make your child feel special while also showing them how they can do good for others. Hosting a charitable party can teach kids the value of working together to help those in need, while bringing more meaning to your celebration. Here are some ways to make your next birthday purposeful and memorable:

Arrange your celebration at a non-profit venue:

Rather than hosting an event at a traditional event space, consider bringing the party to a non-profit venue. The Brandywine Valley SPCA hosts birthday parties on weekends, teaching kids how to be compassionate for their fur-friends. They offer party packages that include decorations, animal meet-and-greets, and craft projects. 

Choose a cause & organize a collection:

In lieu of birthday gifts, you can ask your guests to donate to a cause of your choosing. Many charities allow you to set up your own fundraising pages, making it easy for you to include in your invitations. The Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania and Animal Humane Society have fundraisers that you can host yourself, letting you send online “thank you” notes all in the same place! The Birthday Party Project, who aims to provide children experiencing homelessness with birthday celebrations, has a noteworthy fundraising site, showing you exactly what you are providing for a child with each monetary donation.

Another way to replace a gift with a more purposeful item can be with a “birthday box” through the Confetti Foundation. They supply celebrations to children who have to spend their birthdays in a hospital, pediatric oncology clinic, or hospice facility.

You can also use your party as an opportunity to run a toy or clothing drive by inviting guests to bring old items to donate. Many shelters and charities provide “wish lists” of their most needed items.

Make crafts & gifts to donate:

A hands-on activity is always smart for energy-filled youngsters. At your next celebration, you can make crafts that your child can send or hand-deliver to those they admire. They can write letters or draw pictures for local first responders or military personnel (Operation Gratitude accepts donations of handmade items to be used in care packages for the United States military and veterans). If you have a more advanced group of crafters, you can create a quilt workshop. Quilts for Kids, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit organization, accepts donations of handmade blankets to be distributed to children’s hospitals, shelters, and other organizations that serve children in need.

Donate your leftover food to a local shelter:

After almost any celebration, you are inevitably left with a surplus of food. Rather than letting it go to waste or stuffing it into Tupperware, consider bringing it to a local shelter. Philabundance, a non-profit food bank that serves the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley region of Pennsylvania, has a ton of locations in the Main Line & Western suburbs that accept perishable food donations:

• ElderNet of Lower Merion and Narberth (9 S Bryn Mawr Ave, Bryn Mawr)
• Narberth Community Food Bank (201 Sabine Ave, Narberth)
• Mitzvah Food Project Mainline (345 Montgomery Ave, Bala Cynwyd)