Groupon, Local Non-Profit Give Homeless Kids a ‘Birthday-in-a-Box’

Renton-based non-profit Birthday Dreams and Groupon Grassroots, the philanthropic arm of online discount service Groupon, announced a week-long local campaign starting on Thursday, Feb. 21 to purchase Birthday Boxes that contain everything for a homeless child to celebrate their birthday with family and friends.

The "Birthday Box" includes everything needed to throw a themed birthday party tailored to the individual child: cake, gifts, napkins, plates, cups, balloons, streamers, party games, and even goodie bags for the party participants, as well as other items to celebrate in a manner most children get to enjoy. The campaign will be available on the Seattle Groupon Grassroots page from Feb. 21 through Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Utilizing Groupon Grassroots’ collective action model, Groupon followers can pledge support for the Birthday-in-a-Box initiative in increments of $10 with each $100 raised providing one Birthday Box. Specialty Metals will match the first 30 donations.

“We’re excited to leverage the collective action model of Groupon Grassroots to raise support for our Birthday-in-a-Box program” said Chris Spahn, Executive Director of Birthday Dreams. “We look forward to creating new awareness for Birthday Dreams as one of the local organizations in the Puget Sound/ Seattle area to be featured on Groupon Grassroots.”

The Birthday-in-a-Box service is one of Birthday Dreams' most-popular charitable works since the organization was founded four years ago, according to a news release. The non-profit's simple principle is that children must have a sense of hope, encouragement and belief that there are people who care so that they can weather the storms of their circumstances — one day, their day, to be free of all burdens and just enjoy the excitement of their birthday party.

“Are you spider-senses tingling?” asks the donation page for a boy celebrating his birthday today in transitional housing in Renton. “This young man is turning 11 and having a Spiderman party! His favorite color is green and he loves to play video games. For gifts, he would love video games, electronics, pop music (ie:Justin Bieber etc).”

Birthday Dreams has helped over 1100 celebrate their birthdays since the organization was founded 4 years ago. They are now working with over 37 homeless shelters and transitional housing sources and help celebrate an average of 60 birthdays each month — six “Birthday-in-a-Box” parties are scheduled for today, Feb. 22 at locations in Renton, Everett, Seattle, Kent and Tacoma.

One-hundred percent of the Groupon Grassroots campaign proceeds will be used to provide for the Birthday Boxes.

The Groupon Grassroots campaign will help continue to ensure that children aren’t overlooked on their special day due to the family’s financial priorities to pay for essentials like housing or food, according to a press release.

Groupon Grassroots, launched in July 2010 in Chicago as G-Team, features local campaigns nationwide, enabling Groupon followers to do good, have fun, and make a real impact in their communities. Groupon Grassroots uses collective action to gather support for worthwhile causes and produce tangible results for local organizations. To learn more about Groupon Grassroots and how to become a featured organization, visit http://grassroots.groupon.com. To subscribe to Groupon, visit http://www.groupon.com.