News, Updates & Opportunities

February 2025

All types of movement count — rolling, biking, hiking, swimming, walking, and running. This is a great way for you, your family, friends, or co-workers to get out and stay active this spring. Need some additional inspiration? Watch this video testimonial from VP Bill Huber at Terex/Genie; Team Genie has had an amazing team for the past three years! Also, check out this fun Instagram post from former board member Hannah Feller and her team.

Funds raised from this event directly support Birthday Dreams’ mission to bring hope, joy, and a sense of self-worth by providing homeless children with the gift of a birthday celebration.  

As a participant in Birthday Dreams’ Miles for Smiles Activity Challenge, you will be a part of raising the spirits of the homeless children we serve, and inspiring hope for a brighter future.  

Interested in supporting Miles for Smiles as a sponsor? Please contact our Development Director Jarod Drozdowski. A huge thank you to our current sponsors (listed below) for their support! 

Birthday Dreams extends a big thank you to all of the organizations who brought teams together over the last month to support us in our mission of providing homeless children with the gift of a birthday party, including, Troop 43119, Camp Kindness, Tahoma High School, and the organizations below.

Lauren Ansell invited Birthday Dreams to PCVA Law Firm’s beautiful office in Seattle. We were met by a great group of volunteers who generously donated their time and all the supplies to make 150 goody bags!

Starbucks Marketing Channels invited team members in person and online to create birthday cards and Pin the Candle on the Cupcake games. Pam Rosendahl represented Birthday Dreams at the event sharing our mission and providing instructions. We are so thankful to Starbucks for its continued support.

Led by Cathleen O’Neill, over 65 Salesforce team members worked together in two shifts to create goody bags for our Birthday parties. Along with a generous donation, they also handmade beautiful birthday cards.

Invited by Lindsay Metz, our team stopped by Hopelink as they took time out of their day to make over 120 party hats! They may see their finished works of art again at an upcoming birthday party.  

Thank you to the amazing team of 33 Kaiser Permanente volunteers (some of whom are pictured above) who joined us for United Way’s MLK Day of Service!  From making hats to wrapping gifts and assembling goody bags, they brought so much joy—and had fun doing it! 

Stephanie Monger brought together 12 colleagues from neighboring BECU Financial Centers for a Day of Community Service at the Birthday Dreams Office. They were a great help wrapping gifts, making party hats, making bows and basically anything they could do to help. What a fun group, we can’t wait to have them back!

In-Kind Donations

In-kind gifts and donations of office and party supplies are always needed and appreciated. We would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their January 2025 donations:

Sally Eastey donated gifts for 36 parties valued at $1660

Interfaith Family Shelter donated 183 individual gifts valued at $1638 

Jennifer Matlock donated 86 gifts valued at $577 

Melissa Vaughan 65 gifts 

Emily Egashira 52 gifts  

Joni Nakagawa 44 gifts    

Party supplies, favors, and gifts:

Greg Bannick 

Suzanne Drews

Kristi Dyes 

Susan Holmberg 

Jessica Kehoe 

Julie Klein 

Deb Martinson 

Stacey Neste 

Isabella Rahlfs 

Megan Richards 

Kendy Sasaki-Ross 

Melissa Vaughan 

Eastside Catholic High School 

Liberty High School Thespian Club 

Volunteer Spotlight

Chris' involvement with Birthday Dreams extends far beyond his candy donation. Over the past two years, he has baked and donated 53 cakes!  

Chris puts an amazing amount of effort into baking a cake that fits both the birthday theme and the interests of the birthday child. “Baking cakes has been rewarding for me in so many ways. Prior to baking cakes for Birthday Dreams, I had never baked a cake in my life. I have had a lot of fun learning about cake baking and decorating. I always think about the birthday child while I work and hope my cake will bring them joy. I have also used the opportunity to have my children, (now five and seven), help with baking and deliveries and learn about the importance of volunteerism and community...Our family has built a strong community of friends and a sense of belonging living in Kent for the past five years...I hope they will become Birthday Dreams volunteers themselves in the future!" 

This gorgeous floral-themed cake made by Tomio Stoner was a beautiful, sweet treat for a special baby girl's first birthday. Stacey Neste donated an assortment of gifts including, a Mega Blocks set, Leap Frog book, Disney and Little People sets and more were delivered by Daniel Brewis.

A little girl turning two was eager to take a bite out of this Baby Shark Cake baked by Jamie Kang. The birthday girl received Baby Shark bath toys, FurReal My Minis Interactive toys, a Blues Clues activity book, a National Geographic book, and more from Friends of Birthday Dreams. Driver Belur Shivashankara made the delivery.

This sports cake by Chris Wells was a homerun, goal, basket, and touchdown all in one! The 13-year-old birthday boy received a Roblox Series 5 Mystery box, art supplies, and a Cool Breeze Mens Scent from Friends of Birthday Dreams. Daniel Brewis made the Birthday delivery.

Bluey Cake by Carolyn Wegner.

Baby's First Cupcake Cake by Holly Mihalyo

Galaxy Cake by Tasha Kammerzell.

Frozen Cake by Margaret Eckstrom.

Mermaid Cake by Denise Mealy.

Unicorn Cake by Elizabeth Blake.

Opportunities to Get Involved 

Are you or someone you know interested in serving on a committee, helping with community events, or serving on our Board of Directors? We'd love to hear from you.

Birthday Dreams Committees

Marketing & Development Committee

A fundraising and marketing-oriented committee that meets virtually the last Wednesday of every other month. We are looking for individuals with knowledge of best practices in marketing and fundraising. If interested, contact Jarod Drozdowski. 

Gala of Dreams Steering Committee

Soley focused on all aspects of our annual Gala fundraiser. If interested, contact Jarod Drozdowski. 

Community Events

Would your place of work like to get employees involved to bring some birthday joy? Birthday Dreams would be thrilled to make that happen! If interested, contact Leah Battin.

Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors currently has openings. We are looking for qualified, highly motivated individuals to serve as board members for two-year terms, which may be renewed indefinitely. Please contact Chris Spahn for more information on Board service. 

Volunteer Orientation and Opportunities

If you are interested in volunteering for Birthday Dreams or participating in community service projects / team-building events, please email our Community Event Coordinator Leah Battin.

We offer 30-minute virtual orientations for new volunteers and welcome new and interested volunteers to schedule a convenient time to tour our Renton office. Please email Heid Singh to schedule a visit or to request a call to learn more about volunteering. The next virtual orientations are: 

• Saturday, February 22 @ 11am (virtual)
• Tuesday, March 11 @ 6pm (virtual)
• Thursday, March 27 @ 6pm (virtual)

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook! Cake and delivery needs are posted weekly, in addition to other posts about what’s happening.

A list of upcoming parties and party needs can be found here. 

Onsite Party Volunteers | Immediate Need for Help

To continue hosting parties at the shelters, we need volunteers to attend these very fun birthday celebrations. If you are able to help volunteer, please sign up to assist. Prior to signing up, please make sure to read the descriptions and notes to see if there are any restrictions (i.e., age requirement).

Volunteers currently needed at the following shelters:

• Sunday, February 23 from 1pm - 3pm Mary's Place in Burien
• Sunday, March 23 from 1pm- 3pm at Mary's Place

Office and Party Supply Needs

Did you know that you can use Amazon to set up automatic donations? Just select “Subscribe and Save” to make an automatic order monthly for Birthday Dreams and select the Birthday Dreams address when you check out! It’s an easy way to support our office needs and help Birthday Dreams in a big way. Check out the Amazon Wish List for more ideas. 

Please include your name and email when using the Amazon wish list so we know who to thank.

In addition to the 2025 list, a complete list of our 2024 Birthday Club Members can be found on our Birthday Club page. If you are not a current Birthday Club member, please consider joining us. Click here to donate.