Summit Dance May 18 Benefit Performance

It was an honor for Birthday Dreams to be selected as the charity of choice for Summit Dance Company's annual Raising the Barre performance! The May 8^th performance featured moving and beautiful performances by all Summit Dance Company Team Dancers from the 2024-25 season.  

In addition to donating all benefit proceeds to Birthday Dreams, their pre-show toy drive brought in over 150 toys and much-needed party supplies! 

Big kudos and compliments to Sami, Amanda, and the entire Summit team for doing a GREAT job last month! 

Randall Morris Foundation Events

Birthday Dreams is pleased to once again be a beneficiary of the trio of annual events hosted by The Randall Morris Foundation. Click here for additional event and ticket information.

The wildly fun and competitive Celebrity Poker Tournament is up first on Saturday, June 28, at Larson Mercedes of Tacoma! Tickets do sell out for this event, so get yours today! 

• June 28 | Randall Morris Foundation Celebrity Poker Tournament in Tacoma
• September 7 |18th Annual Celebrity Gala & Auction in Seattle
• September 8 | Celebrity Golf Tournament in Renton

The parent feedback we receive is a constant reminder of the importance of our work. We want you to be aware of the difference you make, so we are sharing it with you:

"It felt great to help my child celebrate their birthday in a way they would not normally have gotten to. They felt extra special which is kind of like a light in the dark times we have gone through. [The party] eased a lot of stress and gave us a chance to relax and have fun. Thank you!"

With your continued support, we are committed to bringing hope and joy to the community we serve through the gift of a birthday celebration.

Grants

Without the grant awards generously endowed by our foundation partners, we could not do what we do. Over the past month, we received grants from the following partners:

• The KidStarter Project - $17,000

The KidStarter Project has been an ardent supporter of Birthday Dreams for the past 10 years! Their question is always "How can we best help you serve the children?". They have been an integral part of the team and we value their partnership!

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP

Birthday Dreams would like to thank Rachel Saimons, from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, for introducing us to her firm. They generously donated enough supplies to make and assemble 200 goody bags. While at their office, we also received Girl Scout Cookies donated by Troop 46022, who chose Birthday Dreams as their benefiting non-profit for donated cookies this year. To boot, four individuals from the firm donated over $400 after the event! We are sincerely grateful!

Gates Foundation Discovery Center

Birthday Dreams was honored to be a guest at the Gates Foundation Discovery Center. Invited by Linda High, Visitor Engagement Lead, we had an area set up in the Take Action Space mid-March through June 7. In addition to bringing awareness to our cause, visitors were given the opportunity to make birthday party hats or a fun birthday game that will be handed out at upcoming birthday parties; supplies were generously donated by the Gates Foundation Discovery Center.

Business Operations at Microsoft

We were excited when Microsoft Project Manager Denise Clark invited us back to partner with the Business Operations team. The team generously donated toys for 200 goody bags, as well as their time to put the bags together. We would like to thank them for their continued support!

Hope Church NW

Hope Church NW hosts Love and Serve Sunday throughout the year and this year Birthday Dreams was chosen to be the non-profit they serve. Church members, led by Chris Caswell, Community Outreach Coordinator, made birthday party hats and assembled friendship bracelet kits. Thank you so much to everyone at Hope Church NW. We appreciate their continued support! 

Julie And Marisol

Birthday Dreams would like to thank Julie and Marisol for their hard work and dedication to giving the gift of a birthday party.

Julie said, “I first heard about Birthday Dreams years ago when someone I knew mentioned they made birthday cakes. In October of 2022, there was a news segment about Birthday Dreams need for candy. After bringing in our donation, I attended a volunteer orientation to learn more. We started volunteering together in December 2022, Marisol's sophomore year. Volunteering together through Birthday Dreams gave us an opportunity to have a shared project that would help other people. We have spent time in the office together wrapping presents, and at home, with Marisol making masks and birthday hats and me making ribbons. We've always felt welcomed and appreciated and it brings joy to us knowing we are bringing joy to kids of all ages.”

Birthday Dreams would also like to congratulate Marisol on her high school graduation and send her very best wishes as she heads to college in the fall!

Bear Creek Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

We were recently contacted by Tiffany Sundelin, who was looking for a way to give back with some of the younger kids at the Bear Creek Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We had just the project for them. 15 adults and 25 kids volunteered to make birthday hats and assemble our teen goody bags. The kids were very creative and we now have many bags and hats to send out to parties. Thank you to everyone who participated. We appreciate you!

We are so grateful to Parneet Parhar and the members of the Northwood Middle School Honor Society. This community-service-based club has around 40 members in grades 6th-8th and is led by four student leaders who organize and manage club activities. Their focus is on giving back to both the school and the Fairwood-Renton community, and hopefully to inspire others to do the same.

The Club learned about Birthday Dreams through one of their members, whose family had previously volunteered and thought the mission would be a great fit for their community service project. 

The students decorated over 100 party hats and ran concession stands during girls' basketball and co-ed wrestling season (raising nearly $1200). They built a website for the project, featuring donation links and our Amazon wish list, launched a QR code campaign which had donation links, and placed posters around the school, in neighborhoods, at concession stands, in local elementary schools, and at local businesses. They also promoted Birthday Dreams at teacher meetings, in school newsletters, community message threads, and email blasts. The effort brought a lot of awareness of our mission and resulted in an additional $785 in direct donations, bringing the total amount raised to nearly $1500 for Birthday Dreams! Wow!

Parneet said they want to thank the Birthday Dreams staff for their support and guidance throughout the project. They also appreciate their school advisors, Mr. Hopker and Ms. Provonsha, and the Northwood staff who helped spread the word and make this project possible. Most of all, thank you to the Fairwood and the Northwood community for stepping up with donations and encouragement.  

Kelley Hoang works at Bellevue Big Picture School, a public school serving students in grades 6 - 12. She first connected with Birthday Dreams in 2015 when she was searching for family-friendly volunteer opportunities. Over the years, she and her family have baked several cakes and cupcakes for the organization and they have found it to be a meaningful way to give back together. 

When Kelley learned that the high school students she works with needed to fulfill community service hours, she immediately thought of Birthday Dreams. Since then, they’ve contributed hundreds of hours packing candy for party goody bags and making nearly 1,500 handmade birthday hats. Kelley notes it has become a fun and impactful way for them to serve others.