Birthday Blessing Bash to Benefit Foster Children

Birthday Blessings will hold their Annual Birthday Bash Campaign March 25 through 27. This includes an open house at their building in West Plains on the March 27 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The 501c3 organization provides a variety of resources to foster children in 19 Missouri counties. In Southern Missouri, they serve kids in Carter, Douglas, Howell, Oregon, Shannon, Ozark and Wright Counties.

 

The organization strives to meet the emotional and physical needs of kids in care. They provide new duffel bags and backpacks, birthday party supplies and gifts, baskets of household goods for teens transitioning to independent living, graduation gifts, and seasonal loneliest child care packages for kids with no family or social ties. They also assist with special needs such as bedding, clothing or items that aren’t covered by other funding sources. 

 

They do this by partnering with child advocacy organizations such as Children’s Divisions and Court Appointed Special Advocates. Staff at these organizations collect information about the needs of foster kids and send it to the non-profit. Birthday Blessings uses these details to put together tailored services for the kids, which they deliver to the advocacy agencies. Staff at the agencies deliver the resources to the kids. 

 

Shannon VonAllmen, who started the organization in 2013, said they expect to serve a record number of kids in 2021 as the number of children entering the foster system is on the rise.

 

“There are more than 14,000 kids in the Missouri foster system. Obviously, we can’t serve them all. We have a waiting list of counties throughout the state requesting services. We always do our best to reach as many kids as we can,” the executive director said.

 

“The Annual Birthday Bash is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate compassion for vulnerable children. You can double the impact of your donated dollars during this event.” VonAllmen said. 

 

There are several ways to make a tax-deductible donation. Donations can be mailed to Birthday Blessings, 429 Aid Ave, West Plains MO 65775. Their Facebook page has a link to their website at www.birthday-blessings.org, which has online payment options. For more information, call 417-372-5306.