Student creates birthday kits for 200 kids

BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Two-hundred kids in the Denver metro area received party hats, streamers, balloons, cake and all of the other ingredients needed for a birthday celebration thanks to a donation from 11-year-old Shriya Madhavan of Highlands Ranch.

Madhavan, a student at STEM School Highlands Ranch, raised $1,000 to put together 200 birthday kits, which she donated last month to A Precious Child, a Broom eldbased nonpro t that provides essentials to families in crisis situations.

e project was inspired when Madhavan’s friend could not a ord a birthday party.

“ ey didn’t have all of the money to a ord (a birthday party), so I was really sad for them,” she said.

To pay for the birthday supplies, Madhavan held an arts and crafts sale in her neighborhood and applied for a grant from Youth Services America, which awarded her a $500 Hershey Heartwarming Young Heroes grant.

She bought supplies, including birthday crowns, candles, balloons, balloon decor arch connectors, streamers, cake toppers with a birthday message, decorated birthday cards and party favors of sunglasses and small toys. Madhavan then reached out to A Precious Child, which has a program called Precious Gift that provides families with a birthday gift and cake.

Independence

“When I saw their birthday bags, I thought it was perfect,” she said.

Josie Martinez, programs coordinator for A Precious Child, said Madhavan’s donation helped provide 200 children with a full birthday experience. Madhavan’s birthday supplies were added to the Precious Gift kits, which are distributed to families who are referred to the nonpro t for services.

“(Shriya) collecting extra goodies for those birthday bags really makes it even more of a special celebration,” Martinez said.

Martinez said the kits were given away relatively quickly because A Precious Child typically serves 32 families per day at their Resource Center in Broom eld. e nonpro t partners with over 500 agencies in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomeld, Denver, Douglas, Je erson and Weld counties for referrals.

On the day Madhavan dropped o the birthday supplies, she also received a certi cate of thanks from A Precious Child and a tour of the services in Broom eld. Madhavan said she hopes she had a positive impact on her community.

“It was pretty exciting honestly because I felt like I could help a certain amount of people, but hopefully inspire people to help others,” she said.

Publication Date: July 6, 2023

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