Unselfish birthday gift idea (you are going to love this!) – How our kids use their birthday parties to raise money to fight Alzheimer’s

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Every year we try to think of fun things to do for our kid’s birthday parties.  While we love our re-gift birthday parties (you can read about it right here), we also love our ‘Charity birthday parties’.    

Its simple really…  in lieu of a gift, our guest contribute to a charity.   They can either bring the donation for you to donate, or they can donate online themselves.    If you want to make it really easy, ask everyone to bring one boxed food or can of food to donate to a local food bank or soup kitchen.OUR KIDS LOVE DOING THIS!  THEY REALLY DO. Yours will, too, if you give them a chance to understand why they are doing it.  Explain the reason and how they are helping others.  Touch their hearts and teach them to love to give and to love to serve.When we first had a Charity Birthday Party, we had it for the Alzheimer’s association and we will continue to raise money there.You see, my grandma/friend/mentor passed away of Alzheimer’s.  We have a group team for her called Rose Petals (her name was Rose & she LOVED riding her bike, which is how we got the PETALS part).  There are 20 of us in our family that walk for her memory.  If you feel like donating, we will pass your donation along to the Alzheimer’s Association- you can donate here, on my page:  https://act.alz.org/goto/RosePetals ROSEMARY ABBOTT: My grandma did everything right to prevent this disease.
~She ate right and she kept her brain and body active and  yet she still got it.My grandma used to call me her “Beautiful Beck.”   She would call & say “How is my Beautiful Beck today?” I loved talking to her.  I would call her anytime that I had a free second, many times we talked several times a day.  I still catch myself wanting to call her often.

I want to call her when our kids act up or act crabby (because she would have a story of how one of her kids did the same thing).
I want to call her when I get a great deal (because she loved deals!)I want to call her to tell her something that our kids did (because she always wanted me to have a lot of kids… “go forth & multiply“, she would say).She loved to hug! When she hugged you, she would sway with you & say “Owe… I love you!”, with such enthusiasm, as if she hadn’t ever loved anyone as much as she loved you just then.The best part was that the next morning, and each time that she saw you, even if you were only gone for minutes, she would react the same exact way!   (You can read about her stories here)Well- having a birthday party where we collect money to help other Alzheimer’s patients  is one way that we raise money in honor of my grandma.   What will you do for your next party?   Raise money to fight something?  Collect food?And one last thing…  I wanted to share a song that touches my heart.  This song is one that reminded me of my great-grandparents, until my grandparents became “greats” and went through it, too.

Disclosure:  If you have a lost grandparents, it might make you tear up a bit (Mom- get a tissue).If you can’t see the video below, watch it here on YouTube instead. This is my favorite song… ever.  I sang it at my great grandma’s funeral and now that it reminds me of my grandma, it is very hard for me to listen to and to hear, but I just love it so…If you want to help find a cure for this awful disease that takes our loved ones, slowly, from us…  that would be great. thank you!!  You can read more about my grandma and donate here at my Alzheimer’s Page: Rose Petals.In the meantime, encourage YOUR kids to give to others instead of having others give to them.   Teach them to use what they have for the greater good.  Raise your child to be a giver, a server, a Christ-follower, a person that loves better to give than to receive.