22 refugee kids introduced to birthdays—and birthday parties

On January 22, Red Letter Days hosted Brighten A Birthday—a charity party to celebrate the birthdays of 22 refugee kids—many of whom had never had a birthday party before.

What's so unique about a celebration like this? The “birthday kids” recently came to the U.S. from Liberia, Sudan, Kenya and other cultures where day-specific calendaring isn't common. In other words, their actual birth dates aren't tracked (or celebrated) as we do in the United States. Instead, they may know they were born "in the rainy season," for instance, but upon arriving in this country, those generalizations don't fit in well with our documentation-centric government. As a result, many refugees are assigned January 1 as their birthday. So holding Brighten A Birthday in January only seemed appropriate.

Accompanied by their Big Brother and Big Sister chaperones, the kids were treated to a few wild hours of bouncing fun, birthday gifts, and of course birthday cake. They were interviewed by Channel 5 News, KSL Radio, and The Salt Lake Tribune. But the best presents we all took home were the big smiles on their faces.

Red Letter Days partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah to find and communicate with our birthday guests. A Youth Board of eight outstanding students from Murray High School helped organize the festivities. And terrific sponsors such as Bouncin' Off the Walls, Bank of American Fork, Alise Allen Photography, and other generous donors helped make this event possible.