A gift that keeps giving back

A new company has begun to plant a seed at children’s birthday parties that, hopefully, will inspire kids to plant some seeds of their own.

In a world where billions of dollars are spent every year on birthday parties, Inspired Birthdays is a company that aims to instill in children a sense of selflessness by turning their day of celebration into an opportunity for community service.

Rhonda Bannard started the company as a spin-off from her business Inspired Connections, which she started in 2005.

“We marry the idea of community stewardship through a birthday party,” Bannard said. “The birthday party becomes a vehicle to teach children about the environment, animals, health and wellness or the community.”

By partnering with several non-profit organizations such as the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, the Sierra Club, Valley Youth Theatre, The Wellness Community, Phoenix Women’s Sports Association and Gabriel’s Angels, Inspired Birthdays aims to “help change the world, one birthday at a time.”

Parents can go online to www.inspiredbirthdays.com and pick a theme that their birthday boy or girl would be interested in.

They have crafts and activities for the children to do that are all based around the chosen theme. For example, if the party had an animal theme, the children would decorate and put together goodie bags that would then be donated to Gabriel’s Angels, which provides pet therapy for children who have gone through trauma.

“Any nonprofit organization would be thrilled to participate (in the parties),” said Zee Peters, spokesperson for Gabriel’s Angels. “From the standpoint of teaching children at an early age about giving back to the community.”

The company takes care of everything, from sending invitations printed on recycled paper to cleaning up at the end. Food is provided by the all-natural organic food service company FresGen Kids, which uses eco-conscious dissolvable products to further help the environment.

Inspired Birthdays has four types of packages to choose from. In the “Explorer” package, the company will come to the home and put on the party there. The “Adventure” package involves holding the party at a park, a yoga studio or a theater. The “Extreme Adventure” package becomes more of a community service project, such as planting a community garden or painting something. The “Rescue Me” package is the same as the “Explorer” package, only it’s for parents who waited until the last minute to plan something.

Bobb Cooper, producing artistic director for Valley Youth Theatre, said Inspired Birthdays was a perfect fit.

“'Inspire’ is the key word,” Cooper said. “Their philosophical beliefs in trying to inspire young people to do good things fits with our mission to inspire kids to be the best they can be.”

“We want to help the children grasp, in their everyday activities and the choices that they make, 'How are those choices benefitting the community and the world?’” Bannard said.

For more information, call (602) 264-3434 or visit www.inspiredbirthdays.com.