At Birthday Wonders, our mission is to improve and support the mental and emotional well-being of children experiencing poverty and homelessness by providing memorable personalized birthday celebrations and experiences and to relieve poverty by providing basic necessities of life.
It is our desire to build strong community bonds to facilitate the financial and emotional stability of children in homeless shelters as they transition to independence.
Birthday Wonders is a non-profit organization that celebrates marginalized children experiencing homelessness.
We believe that every child deserves to be celebrated.
Our experiences in childhood stay with us forever. Feeling appreciated is never more important than during these formative years. Children experiencing homelessness often struggle against the hardest struggles: emotional and social hardship, fleeing domestic violence, or lacking viable accommodation. Unsurprisingly, these can have serious negative impacts on a child’s self-esteem, confidence, and identity. For some young people experiencing homelessness, birthdays become a reminder of hardship and isolation – rather than self-appreciation.
Our birthday celebrations are created to promote a sense of value, self-worth, and recognition in the lives of these children, giving them a sense of normality for a day. We provide a cake, decorations, loot bags, surprise gifts, a balloon arrangement, and so much more. They are more than a ‘homeless’ label.
Together we can show our communities how small moments of joy can have a larger impact on a child’s life.
I’ve been on the other side, too.
I was a young mom and in school full-time; facing hardship was tough, but those hardships never hindered my tenacity. With some tough sacrifices made, I was able to complete my education.
The reality is that not everyone in society has the same opportunities. As a mother, I’ve always believed in experiences and values ahead of lavish gifts. I’ve stretched money and I’ve enriched my children’s lives with free activities – library and museum visits, picnics, and other great, inexpensive outings. Having a first-hand understanding of the financial barriers single-parent-women face has made me think more about the effects it has on children experiencing homelessness and marginalized children. How are they affected? The most important things we give our children are immaterial, but it’s hard to celebrate birthdays and other childhood milestones when you can barely afford to make ends meet. Many parents will experience this exact same situation this year. No child deserves that, and no parent deserves to carry the burden of that guilt.
I started this charity to offer the opportunity of celebration to children with hardships similar to, or greater than, those I’ve endured in my own life. I want to make sure those children feel appreciated, despite lacking the comfort and consistency of a supportive family home. Helping prevent caregivers from making hard sacrifices, and to make sure that children experiencing homelessness feel appreciated is worth the fight.
This is who I am.
– Anika Apollon
Every child deserves a special birthday
Our birthday celebrations are designed to promote positive development, caregiver empowerment, and a sense of self-worth and normality.
We take care of it all: balloons, cake, decorations, gifts, loot bags, and many more.
We can’t overlook the importance of one event in changing a life
We focus on the individual. Their interests, their passions – who they are and what makes them special.
Our birthday experiences come in many forms: Galleries, museums, theatres, exhibitions, and many more
Supporting Families, Supporting Young People
We also provide necessities of life to homeless shelters for women and children and Youth shelters.
$60.00 – $80 – Pizza and drinks for one birthday celebration
$100.00 – Birthday gifts for one youth for one birthday celebration
$200.00 – Food, balloons, cake, decorations, loot bags for one birthday celebration
$300.00 – One entire birthday celebration for one youth to include gifts, food, loot bags, decorations, cake
Birthday Wonders is delighted to work in collaboration with Donate a Car Canada. Donating your used car is easy with Donate a Car Canada!
Donate a Car Canada offers:
-Free towing or pic-up in every province
-A simple online donation form, or call toll free at 1-877-250-4904
-A guaranteed tax receipt for every donation
When donating your used vehicle to Donate a Car Canada, you’ll be able to select Birthday Wonders as your charity of choice to direct your donation towards.
For details and to arrange your donation, visit www.donatecar.ca
Mailing Address:
PO BOX 5 RPO STEELES
NORTH YORK, ONTARIO, CANADA
M3J 0H8