Brighter Birthdays: Key Club Spring Project

The+Key+Club+members+that+attended+and+helped+with+the+Brighter+Birthdays+service+project.+During+the+fall+the+club+participated+with+the+organization+for+the+first+time.+Sponsor+of+Key+Club%2C+Mrs.+Mowery+said%2C+We+adopted+them+as+a+community+project.+We+will+be+working+with+them+next+year+as+well.+

The Key Club members that attended and helped with the Brighter Birthdays service project. During the fall the club participated with the organization for the first time. Sponsor of Key Club, Mrs. Mowery said, “We adopted them as a community project. We will be working with them next year as well.”

Brighter Birthdays is a non-profit organization whose task is to give gift bags to underprivileged children on their birthdays. The founder of the organization is Christen Warden her goal is to provide birthday packages to students in the community that can not afford it. According to Junior, Carsen Ragland the organization is making a huge impact by sending hundreds of bags to the children who may not receive a big birthday celebration. Brighter Birthdays serves 16 schools within this region. Their goal for the 2018-19 school year was to deliver 2,250 bags to students, and so far they have delivered 1,586.

On April 17th members of the AHS Key Club volunteered their time after school to help with the Brighter Birthdays spring project. While there the members packed goody bags to send to students. In each bag, they put party decorations, party hats, bubbles, water bottles, birthday napkins, and plates as well as many other goods that would help a child’s birthday be even better. At a previous meeting, students used stamps to prepare a packet that was put into a Ziploc bag with the plates and napkins. They stamped fun phrases as well as Happy Birthday to help the child celebrate. 

When the students help with this project, they get a sense of gratefulness and feel humble. “As the students volunteer with this organization, it helps them realize how grateful they should be for the parties they were able to have when they asked for one,” Ragland reflects. Ragland said, “I am excited to continue to help Brighter Birthdays for more years and watch as they grow as an organization.”