Column by Garnet Logan
This is Mozart month. His musical legacy remains despite the passage of 252 years, as we celebrated his birthday on Jan. 27.
Birthdays are important milestones, and January has lots of famous ones. Of course, we know about Martin Luther King, Jr. (80) but also Betsy Ross (257), Isaac Asimov (89), Elvis Presley (74), Butterfly McQueen (98), Andy Rooney (90) Lewis Carroll (176) Oprah Winfrey (54), Wayne Gretzky (47) and Edgar Allen Poe (200) to name a few. We remember the present or past lives of others on their birthdays and continue to celebrate them.
Beginning with childhood, birthdays are important not only to the individual but to others who treasure that person’s existence. Every family has its own way of celebrating, particularly children’s birthdays, and cake and gifts usually play a part. However, not all families are able to provide such amenities, and that’s where Project Happy Birthday has helped.
In 1993, inspired by a similar project of the Junior League in Seattle, Mary Harmon, a young mother and Helpline volunteer, offered to create birthday parties for children whose families might not be able to have one otherwise. Supported as well by Bethany Lutheran Church and the Mormon Women’s Relief Society, a home-baked cake and small gifts delighted children from 1-10 years of age.
At some point, it became solely a Helpline House event. Today Helpline volunteers, under the coordination of college student Ari Lowe, provide home-baked cakes and gifts for happy children and grateful parents about four times a month.
Parents complete an application two weeks ahead of the birth date and pick up the cake and gifts when notified. Shoppers often purchase clothes as gifts for recipients.
“For families who truly are in trouble, new clothes are a wonder,” said Volunteer Coordinator Clara Manny.
Helpline House often supplements needed items to ensure that no child is left out on their special day. Currently there are four regular bakers, including Isabel Homan, who received a Rotary grant at age 14 for creating cakes for this project.
Not long ago, a little girl who had celebrated several birthdays with Project Happy Birthday came in and asked for a cake for her mother, beginning “Cakes for Kith and Kin.” If there is a special request for an adult, it can be met as well, depending on the circumstances, with no gifts supplied.
Project Happy Birthday brings a smile to the faces of the birthday boys and girls, especially to their appreciative parents, and it’s a fun way to reach out to others. Volunteers are always needed to purchase gifts from time to time, and cake bakers are most welcome. Call Helpline House at 842-7621 if you’re interested.
In Neil Diamond’s words:
“And each one there has one thing shared: They have sweated beneath the same sun/Looked up in wonder at the same moon/And wept when it was all done/For being done too soon….”
Happy birthday one and all.
Garnet Logan is a member of the board of directors at Helpline House
