Three 9-year-old girls in Pittsburgh saw the opportunity to give back to the JFCS Squirrel Hill Food Pantry by hosting a big cereal donation party.
“Imagine if you didn’t have a lot of money and you didn’t have enough to buy what you need,” said Sophie, one of the girls who hosted the party, when asked why they decided to donate to the pantry.
In January, Sophie and her friends Karen and Caroline decided to have all their birthday parties on the same day and, instead of presents, have their friends and family contribute foods that are more scarce in the food pantry. After thinking about what types of food they wanted people to bring to be donated, they eventually decided that kid friendly cereals were the best option.
Karen told everyone they invited, “Don’t bring presents; bring cereals!” They gathered their entire 3rd grade class, family and friends to attend the ice skating themed birthday party. Overall, they came together to donate over 10 pounds of cereal to the food pantry.
Though it might seem surprising that three 9-year-old girls would choose to forgo presents and have people bring donations for their birthday, they really enjoyed it. “Even though it is your own birthday party, you’re getting all this stuff already–if you’re getting gifts it’s just adding on,” Caroline explained. Karen added in, “It’s just kind to just do it. I enjoy giving.”
Although for some of the girls, this is their first time collecting donations and doing something for their community, they can all see themselves doing this again.
We never know what to expect in the food pantry here but it is absolutely amazing to see such kindness from our community!
