No better thank you...

We all know how nice it is to hear thank you from time to time. The reality is that when you create a birthday box and deliver it, you will likely never hear anything about it again. For many reasons, we don’t hear thank you and quite frankly it’s not expected (but a really nice treat to hear!). When we do, we love to share it as a thank you to you all for helping make this organization a reality. We may never, ever, know the impact of our efforts but I can assure you that together, we, are making a big one!

We recently began partnering with a new local Department of Social Services so they are brand new to our birthday box program and likely didn’t know what to expect. We received an email from the social worker who referred two boxes recently. Her words are so much better than anything we could write so we will share a portion of her email with you (name changed for confidentiality purposes):

“Now, I was really pumped to give Angel’s box to her. Angel has no one in the area to really celebrate her birthday with her and I could just tell that your organization was designed to especially reach out to youth just like her. I was a little concerned about how nice everything was as Angel has not always shown the highest level of care with her personal items. However, I had a much more thought out plan with Angel. I had exactly what I wanted to talk to her about regarding her box and things she was given and I had perfected my Worthdays “spiel”. I get there and already Angel is acting different with me, not talkative, not smiling as much. I start talking to her about the box and notice as I keep talking she keeps getting quieter and quieter (not typical of Angel). The whole time I am talking, I am second guessing everything I am saying (am I explaining Worthdays right? Is this not what she wanted? Oh gosh did I mix her up with another kid?) Finally, I stop talking and just get quiet and look at Angel. Once I meet her eyes, I ask her “Angel, is everything okay?”

Angel looks at me and says in a quiet voice “Yes, I’m just really happy on the inside.”

I couldn’t even tell you how that hit my heart. I learned a very valuable lesson that Worthdays helped teach me. Our kids have been through the wringer. They have experienced things that I could never imagine experiencing. That’s why it’s so important the work that you guys do at Worthdays. Every child deserves to be celebrated on their birthday. That being said, not every child is going to respond the same way. Most of our kids aren’t equipped to expect or know how to handle the generosity that you guys provide to them. The fact that Angel, bubbly, talkative, Angel could only say to me “I’m happy on the inside” helps me check my expectations at the door and make sure that I’m meeting my kids where they are at. A lot of the times I don’t know where that is but I will say that I’m so happy that your program exists so that our children don’t have to learn to expect nothing on a day that should be filled with happy celebration.

So thank you for all that this organization does for our kids.”

So to all of you who have helped our organization, this is your thank you. Thank you for making kids happy on the inside on a day that is worth celebrating. Our efforts are so necessary and we could not do it without our village of people who truly believe kids in foster care matter!

Caroline Neal, Founder