I got the bad news and the good news at the same time.  The bad news is that thousands of children in Israel have never had a birthday party.  The good news is Birthday Angels www.birthday-angels.org, the brainchild of Ruthie Sobol Luttenburg. 

So far I’ve written about people doing cool things in one place in Israel.  Birthday Angels, the birthday party project, is a cool thing that happens all over the country, all the time.

                 

Ruthie and I sat in a café near Kadima, a small community about 8kilometers from Israel’s coastline, about half way between Tel Aviv and Haifa.  I had heard that Ruthie had her own business and wondered how she went from small business owner to full time philanthropist.  I also wanted to know what this birthday thing was all about. Ruthie, what is Birthday Angels?“You know, it’s really simple. There is one day in the year when a person is the most important in the world – our birthday.   Can you believe that one out of every 6 kids in this country have never had a birthday?!?  Birthday Angels make it possible for the thousands of underprivileged children of Israel to enjoy this really important experience.” How does it work? “We created a ‘do-it-yourself’ kit which includes everything needed to make a fun and special party that, above all else, focuses on the birthday girl or boy.   The kits go out to youth leaders who deal with underprivileged children, giving them to ability to create fabulous parties with no special training or experience” What do you mean by experience? 

“Before creating Birthday Angels, I had a business that provided specialized birthday parties according to themes.   You know – dinosaurs, ice age, chocolate factory and the like.  Each theme had its own little world of equipment, decorations etc. I had a trained team who knew how to interact with the children, get them involved, set up and use the involved equipment and generally manage a party.   It was a great business.  But the parties each cost up to a couple of thousand shekels ($500).  At one point I asked myself – what am I doing?   All this effort and time spent in making fancy, unique parties for children who have everything.  Meanwhile, so many don’t even get to enjoy the simplest of parties recognizing their birthday.

“So I sat down and thought out what could comprise a ready-to-use package.  I came up with a set of games, activities, decorations music and stickers that would enable anyone to host a great party. I mean anyone. No training, no major equipment, no fancy accoutrements. But what it would have is “CONTENT” which is all about the birthday child. 

“People donate 36$ and for this amount give a child an experience that he or she has never had – a birthday celebration for them and them alone.   With this modest donation, people can really touch a child.  We recognized how important this connection is for both sides – the children and the donors.   That’s why we included in the kit a thank you note that the child fills in and decorates. This brings the experience full circle.“ 

                  

When did you come to live in Israel? 

“I was brought up in a home that very much believed in and loved Israel.  I spent all my summers at the Young Judea camps.   Visiting, I found myself smitten with the country. I couldn’t wait to come and spend an extended period of time here.  So I purposely finished high school early so I could get here sooner.   There was a one year Young Judea program where we learned of Israel’s history and politics. But more importantly, we lived in different areas around the country from Kibbutzim to Moshavim and traveled the entire country.   I felt so at home. It just seemed natural to be here. 

“I went to Tel Aviv University and spent 3yrs studying philosophy, political science and Mid-East studies.   While there I joined a group of university students volunteering in a depressed neighborhood.  Eventually I was hired as an Informal Education Facilitator assigned with task of creating a drug program.   That led to setting up Israel’s first center with a library of educational activities, educational toys and work shops. That evolved into an educational toy store which became a service for educational tools and I  was never happier.   

           

  

Ruthie and Anita Alter King, Birthday Angels North American liaison at the CAJE conference in St. Louis 2007

“The fascinating difference between formal and informal education is that formal education provides a predetermined package that children are expected to absorb whether they get it or not, want it or not, connect to it or not.   Informal education customizes itself to the needs of the ‘users’ aka, the kids and it demands their involvement.  “So when I set up my birthday party company, I wrapped the theme around the child.  I was very happy with this business until the second Intifada when my business did just as well as it always had.” How did your success during intifada cause you to become disgruntled with your business?  “The daily newspapers endlessly discussed how the intifada was damaging the economy.  How was it that it hadn’t affected my business?  I realized that the families that could afford my parties were giving their kids that special attention no matter what.   My abilities were going to waste on kids who didn’t need it.  And so Birthday Angels was born.   

Ruthie receiving the Begin Award for Service to the Community

“As of today, 2500 children have celebrated their birthdays through this project.  On of the beautiful aspects of this project is the connection between the child and the donor, many of whom are also children.”  How is that? ”Many children have donated by asking people who come to their bar and bat mitzvah’s to give them a gift of donating $36 to birthday angels.   Then the process comes full circle when the bar/bat mitzvah child receives a heartfelt, lovingly decorated thank you card.

“That’s why we call this project: ‘The Circle of Giving’. Everyone is giving something. The Angels donate a kit, the volunteers give the party, the Birthday Child sends the Thank You card and the circle is complete.  And with enough good hearted people out there, eventually, every child in Israel will experience having their own birthday party.”  

If you’d like to find out more about Birthday Angels click here.

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