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News, Updates & Opportunities
August 2021
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2021 Birthday Dreams Gala |
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Register Now | The Gala of Dreams
Saturday, October 9
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The countdown has begun!
We have less than 60 days until The Gala of Dreams!
This year’s event will be both in-person and virtual so everyone can attend, have fun, and support Birthday Dreams. The in-person event will be held at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Lake Washington in Renton (special discounts for rooms are available for attendees). Formal invitations will be mailed out soon!
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Calling all Birthday Dreams supporters! We can use your help to build out the Gala of Dreams silent and live auction catalogs. If you (your friends/family/colleagues) have a lead on an exciting auction item, please let us know so we can work out a way to move forward with a procurement effort. Contact our Development Director Jarod Drozdowski at (425) 524-4705 or jarod@birthdaydreams.org or submit your donation here.
Of particular interest are:
1. Experiences (travel, hotel stays, skydiving, outdoor adventures, etc.)
2. Food/Beverage (restaurant gift cards, beer/wine/alcohol packages, wine tasting tours, etc.)
3. Fun, Family, and Leisure (golf, bowling, theme parks, museums, etc.)
4. Physical items (jewelry, art, laptop computers/gaming systems, etc.)
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Event Sponsors | Birthday Dreams would like to extend an extra special thank you to all of our Gala of Dreams sponsors: Alaska Airlines, Banner Bank, BECU, Black Cat Studios, Chicago Title Company, Delightful Communications, Delta Kappa Gamma, Edward Jones, First Financial Northwest Bank, Guild Mortgage, John & Linda Middlebrooks, Lighting the Sound Productions, Mustard Seed Communications, Barb Nilson, Northup Fundraising, Shutter Sauce, Stor-House Self Storage, The Sundae Shop, The Tamara Paul Group, and Top of the Hill Quality Produce, Tre Sorelle Salon.
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This is Why We Do It!
Derrick, a single father of twin teenage girls, has been struggling financially over the past year and living in a Renton shelter for several months.
This year, as his daughters’ birthday was approaching, Derrick knew that he did not have the money for gifts or a celebration. Through conversations with his case worker, he found out about Birthday Dreams and contacted us. Derrick was overjoyed that Birthday Dreams was an available resource for his family. In his feedback to Birthday Dreams he shared his heartwarming appreciation:
“My daughters were so excited to have their birthdays celebrated this year. It made a big difference for our family and they really loved the cake and party supplies. My sincere thanks to Birthday Dreams for all it does for kids like mine!”
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Community Support and Recognition |
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Last month Birthday Dreams partnered with Camp Kindness Counts in Redmond to assemble goody bags for Birthday Dreams parties. Camp Kindness Counts is a non-profit organization with a mission to empower kids to be the positive change in our communities. It was a great day and an extra special way for kids to help other kids. A big “thank you” to Camp Kindness Counts for your support and partnership. |
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Recent Grant Awards
Each month Birthday Dreams receives grant awards from our wonderful foundation partners. We would like to highlight the financial support from the following grant funder:
- The Fales Foundation Trust
This grant award of $1,500 will directly fund our Birthday-in-a-Box program. We are grateful to The Fales Foundation Trust for their support!
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Volunteer Spotlight | Alison MacLellan |
Alison began volunteering at Birthday Dreams back in 2014, donating many cakes. As life became busier for her family Alison took a break from volunteering until 2020 when Covid hit and she found herself wanting to share her love of baking with folks outside of her immediate household. Alison is especially supportive of the cake needs for children with food allergies. Having a child with a nut allergy herself, Alison knows all the baking tricks to produce beautiful and tasty cakes to accommodate for various food allergies. |
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When Alison first began volunteering, she wanted to involve her children to help them see that not everyone’s experience is the same. Together they would select a Birthday Dreams party and buy all the supplies for it while they were out shopping for her own children’s birthday party supplies.
Alison has baked many fun and creative cakes including a number of “Frozen” themed cakes as well as a “Baby Shark” cake. She really pays attention to the child’s favorite colors and party theme to deliver a special cake. She has a very admirable goal of donating a cake a week in 2021 and has baked 31 cakes so far this year! Thank you, Alison, for all you do to support Birthday Dreams.
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Awesome Cakes Made and Delivered with Love |
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It's was a Paw Patrol party for a boy turning 2 who loves cars, trucks, dinos and of course Paw Patrol.
Cake Baker: Ashely Kurth Delivery Driver Driver: Jim Waugh.
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This cake was polished to perfection for the spa-themed party for an 8-year old girl who loves Fortnite, Roblox and the color purple.
Cake Baker: Hannah Feller and Delivery Driver: Jim Waugh
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This cake was the perfect compliment to the Glow party for a sweet girl turning 10, whose favorite colors are yellow and green.
Cake Baker: Alison MacLellan
Delivery Driver: Susan Holmberg
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Volunteer Orientations and Opportunities
We are thrilled to announce we are once again offering in-person orientations:
- Saturday, August 14th at 11 am
- Wednesday, August 17th at 6pm
Contact our Community Events Coordinator, Leah Battin, at Leah@birthdaydreams.org for team building and service project opportunities.
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Follow us on Facebook! Cake and delivery needs are posted weekly. A list of upcoming parties and party needs can be found here.
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Club Corner
Birthday Dreams welcomes new and renewing Birthday Club members:
Chicago Title Company, The Tamara Paul Group, Guild Mortgage, Robert Grey, Top of the Hill Quality Produce, Stor-House Self Storage, Jessica A & Matthew Y. Mercer, DK – Beta Delta, Auburn, Delightful Communications, LLC, Windermere Foundation, The Fales Foundation, Sakun Ganason, George & Sandra Moore, Kroger (Fred Meyer Awards Program).
A big THANK YOU to our amazing Birthday Club members!
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We encourage you to continue spreading the word about Birthday Dreams to your friends, family, and colleagues so we can keep growing our Club roster with even more amazing people! |
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