A little about Box of Balloons
Let’s face it. As momma’s our kids are our world, and we all like to give them the very best of whatever we can. We laugh with them, cry with them, cheer for them, teach them and above all we love to celebrate them. And once a year, they get a day to call their own. Their birthday; and they can’t wait for their birthday celebration!
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget to count our blessings every day. To stop amidst the craziness that is our busy lives, and look at all that we have and to be thankful. To some of us, it is hard to imagine the inability to give your child a simple birthday celebration but to many that is their hard reality. In 2012, Madison Wisconsin, had more than 881 homeless children! That’s about 445 homeless families. There are a lot of children in our own community struggling to find a warm meal and a place to lay their head. For these parents, and many others in different situations, birthday parties are not a possibility or priority.
Let me introduce you to Box of Balloons. A non-profit charitable organization on a mission to make each birthday happy and every child celebrated. At Box of Balloons, we believe that a birthday party is about more than just cute decorations, presents and cake. We believe that it is a celebration of a precious life, and a way to make each child feel special and celebrated.
Box of Balloons partners with local school districts and community organizations to find families in need who have a child but can’t give them a birthday celebration. Parents or caregivers fill out a party details form, and a group of local community volunteers contribute the necessary items to complete our birthday box requirements. Each box contains tableware, decorations, a party game/activity, a party favor, cupcakes, and a birthday gift. Once the box is completed, it is given to the family and they get to use everything inside of it to celebrate their child.
Our ten member core team started in Sun Prairie Wisconsin in November 2013, and since then has grown to over 100 volunteers in the Madison/Sun Prairie area. We are also very excited to be growing beyond Sun Prairie--we are now in 13 states with 22 different total chapters!! We have filled over 973 birthday boxes!!
As we continue to grow, so will our need for fantastic volunteers and contributions. The beauty of being a Box of Balloons volunteer is the flexibility of your commitment level. You can help out as much or as little as you’d like. As a volunteer, you submit your email address and location and we put you on an email list for the team nearest you. Then, when we have a box to fill, you will get an email with the needs and you sign up for whatever you want to fulfill get (or make) the item you signed up for, and drop it off at the designated drop off site.
There are also several different ways to support our mission if volunteering isn’t your thing:
Share your celebration! For your kids’ birthdays or your own, go to our website here and fill out our form to share your day! Then, in lieu of birthday gifts, or as well as gifts, encourage your party guests to contribute toward making other birthday’s happy. After you’ve collected your donations, send them to Box of Balloons along with a picture of the big sharer and we’ll add them to our website! So far, we’ve had seven awesome birthday people share their celebrations and have been able to fill over 5 boxes! Each box takes $50-$75 to fill.
Donate. If you’d just like to donate towards our cause, it’s easy to do! Just go to our website and click donate. Any amount is appreciated. Box of Balloons is a 501 (c )(3) and contributions can be considered toward tax deductions.
Connect. Do you have an ‘in’? We are always looking for local companies willing to contribute, people who know people, and great connections with schools to help us move forward. If you think you could help in anyway please contact us today!
