We at Birthday Blessings want all kids to feel loved and celebrated especially on their birthdays. We provide each child with a special birthday cake, personalized bag, personalized water bottle, fun gift as well as party plates and napkins.
The birthday cakes, baked and decorated with a flavor and theme of the child’s choosing, are made by Birthday Blessings members and volunteers. Some turn out better than others but all are made with love.
The bags can either be a backpack, tote bag or cosmetic bag with the child’s name embroidered on it – each child gets to choose the type of bag they would like. They also receive a water bottle with their name proudly displayed.
The fun gift is matched to the child’s interests and age. The gifts can be legos, dolls, action figures, basketballs,drawing and coloring materials – whatever will make these kids smile.
Birthday Blessings has only a handful of volunteers. At this time, we solely serve organizations that host children in foster care in the Greater Cincinnati area - currently St. Joseph's Orphanage and Lighthouse Youth Services. Unfortunately, our services and resources are limited so we are unable to grant personal requests.
These organizations identify kids most in need of our services.Staff at these organizations also distribute the items to the kids in order to protect their privacy.
St. Joseph Orphanage is a comprehensive behavioral health and educational treatment agency that helps children and their families on the road to recovery and success.
Partnering with over 1,400 children and families every day, St.Joseph’s continuum of individualized services gives us the special opportunity to meet the emotional, psychological, and educational needs of the people in our care.
Lighthouse Youth & Family Services is an agency dedicated to creating a community where every young person has the opportunity to thrive.
A nationally recognized innovator in services for families in crisis, foster care and adoption, mothers and babies, homeless youth and young adults, delinquent youth, and youth learning to become self-sufficient.
This nonprofit means so much to me. I went into the foster care system at 9 years old, became a ward of the court and eventually aged out of the system. There were many birthdays I didn't feel celebrated. As a parent now, I always spend lots of time baking and decorating birthday cakes just for my kids. As I am not a professional baker, some cakes were lopsided or not quite what I had hoped for, but all of them were made with love, letting my kids know that they were celebrated.
In 2016, my small women’s Bible study group discussed ways to serve our local community and launched the idea of doing birthday cakes for foster kids. We partnered with St. Joseph’s Orphanage, who identified kids that would most benefit from our services. We delivered cakes, personalized bags, fun gifts and party plates and napkins to those kids and according to the staff, the birthday celebrations were received with joy and smiles. In 2017, Birthday Blessings became a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, classified as a private foundation.
We at Birthday Blessings want all kids, especially those in foster care, to experience the joy of being celebrated just because they were born. Birthday Blessings - celebrating kids one birthday at a time.