Jolie Bianchin was watching Oprah several years ago when she heard about the idea of having a “Charity Birthday Party”. Jolie is a hard-working mother of three. She and her husband, Robert, have been working hard to teach their children, Kayla (6); Alana (4); and Roberto Jr. (9 months) about community and trying to make them aware of how lucky they are and how some other people are not as fortunate.

“It’s a delicate process, but an important one,” claimed Jolie. “Too many of our young children have grown into adults that lack compassion.”

As with most mothers, Jolie has always gone to great lengths to give her daughter, Kayla, a nice party. The problem was that as every year passes, the number of children attending Kayla’s party grows and grows and grows. Jolie was having some difficulty with her opening ten gifts from her friends.

“Kayla was always very generous with her thank you's, taking time to say thank you after each present and even helping in sending out thank you cards. This still left me feeling a little numb - something was missing.” explained Jolie. “This year the number of invitations was 18! Can you believe it? Kayla is very active in Sparks and swimming and has many friends on her street and at school. It was very stressing to decide how we could invite some children and leave others out.”

When Kayla was asked how she felt about having a “Charity Birthday Party” she was thrilled. It was her decision to donate all of her birthday presents to the S.P.C.A. We began by taking all 18 children on a tour of the S.P.C.A. where they gave the society a money gift or supplies for the animals. In fact, $160 in cash and additional food and supplies was presented to the Society representatives. The children also had a chance to see how and where their money would be used. For Kayla, she had an opportunity to visit with some of the animals on the site. After the tour they all went back to Jolie’s house for an afternoon of fun, games and cake. The other kids loved it and many are planning on doing something similar for their birthdays.

As far as Kayla is concerned, she is so pleased that she tells everyone who is willing to listen that she was “helping people this year” by having a Charity Birthday Party. She is still at an age where animals are people to her, since she can’t yet distinquish between the two.

This is such a heart-warming story, right before Christmas. We are always trying to find a way to show our children how to care for others, especially during this time of the year. Perhaps the Bianchin family has discovered the secret and will inspire others to follow suit.