A birthday means you’ve just completed another spin around the sun, which in any case, is a cause for celebration! You’ve gone through another year of living that had its highs, lows, disappointments, and accomplishments. Another year of breath in your lungs and b***d in your veins that gets commemorated with a birthday cake. Birthdays are important and should be celebrated, especially if you’re a child.
But for some kids, there isn’t much of an opportunity to have a birthday party with all the trimmings. Things like party hats, entertainment, confetti, and cake get put on the back burner when life has other stressors that need attention. When Amanda Rico from San Antonio, Texas, was planning her 30th birthday party, she had an idea.
It started when she was planning an extravagant birthday-30 is a big milestone after all! She put together a Pinterest board with all the things she was envisioning like mariachis, a big birthday cake…everything! She had big plans to go large until she was reading a book called, “Light Up the Darkness” to her children, and she had a sudden change of heart.
It was the first page of the book that brought her to tears, “It says, ‘I was just a boy one winter’s night beneath my favorite tree. It was the night of my 12th birthday all alone as I can be. No cards, no cake, no candles, no presents wrapped for me, because no one threw a party for a little boy who couldn’t see.'” Amanda decided she wanted to still have that elaborate party she had imagined, but with a twist. She invited 130 abused and neglected children from ST. PJ’s Children’s Home and threw the party in their honor.
At first, she was faced with a lot of no’s. People couldn’t volunteer the time or put in the effort. It was when she called her friend Bryan Boyd, who helped Amanda with her wedding reception, that suddenly, everything aligned. Bryan understood her desire to give back and was instrumental in coordinating the event. He helped with catering, a photo booth, a balloon artist, a live DJ and so much more.
Amanda didn’t even tell the kids about the event. They assumed they were just going to have a normal dinner and go back home for bath time then to their dorms. Instead, they got a birthday memory they will have forever.
Click below to watch this amazing party come together for a really good cause.
