Every child deserves a special day

"Most of the children that come to our emergency shelter have been moved from one place to another for long periods of time. The live a transient lifestyle with their families, many not having a bed let alone a room to call their own," said Almarie Perez, Shelter Coordinator. She continued, "Homeless children are exposed to much more hardship than most of us can even begin to imagine. So if you tell a child that their birthday cannot be celebrated at the shelter on their special day it becomes one more way to make them feel that they are not important."

After volunteering at Christmas, as well as cooking monthly meals at Lazarus House, Katie Lessard, a 10th grade student at North Andover High School saw a need and followed up on it. She approached the staff with a request to bring birthday parties to the children living at the shelter. They liked the idea and helped her make it happen.

Katie explained, "I always loved birthdays because for me it was the one day a year that I felt really special and my mom always made a big deal out of it. Every child deserves to feel that way so I came up with the idea to create, 'A Special Day'. On this day everyone focuses their attention on the birthday girl or boy and they get to forget all their troubles.

'A Special Day' provides everything necessary to host a party on the child's actual birthday. a home baked cake is decorated with cartoon characters, balloons, presents, goody bags and a personalized crown are delivered to the celebration. In addition, tablecloths, blowers, hats, wall banners and streamers are supplied so the staff at the shelter can decorate the dining room before the guests arrive home at night.

"This has been an incredible experience to observe as a mother and a mentor," Kris Lessard proudly shared. "Watching and helping Katie work on this effort has provided opportunities that go beyond just learning to help others. She has to raise money, manage a budget and think seriously about how to allocate the limited funds. Katie also approached the owner of Lazar Craze, Greg Hughes, to donate all the goody bags for every child at the party, which he generously took on. It is interesting to see how her plans for this effort are growing to include other shelters."   Read More...