Contributed by Maeve Rath & Brenna Nikalee Rath
Every child deserves to be celebrated, and celebrating children is what we want to do. My name is Maeve. I’m a Junior Girl Scout in Troop 855. My friend, Ashely, and I have been working on our Bronze Award, the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can earn. For our service project, we chose to put together “birthday in a bag” bundles for kids in need. This project is inspired by my cousin, Max, who died of SIDS. We want to spread joy in his honor. We collected supplies and money to fill these bags. Thanks to our awesome community, we met our original goal of making 20 Birthday In a Bags to donate to Frontline Mission in Wasilla in June, but we’re not stopping there!
Our current goal is to donate 15 more bags by July 31st. Each bag costs $12-$15, not including the book/gift.
With this project, we spread happiness and brought awareness to SIDS. I suggested this project and am glad we chose it because I got to celebrate Max and help other families celebrate their kids. I feel happy that I get to help make kids and their families happy. It’s fun putting the bags together! I liked hanging out with friends while gathering supplies and filling the bags. I learned new skills and improved skills, like how to budget and about writing letters to request donations. I have done some stage performances, including a play with Girl Scouts, and I got to practice my public speaking skills and put them to use telling people about my project. I also used those skills when we made videos that my mom put on Facebook, so people would know about this project. My mom, Ashley’s mom, my leader, Lisa, all of my grandparents and other family and friends, my community… lots of people helped us achieve our project goals and are still helping me go above and beyond those goals.
Fortunately, we planned pretty well and didn’t have any big problems come up while we were doing our project. We did take one thing off our original list of things to put in bags because it wasn’t something that was really needed and it was expensive. I can’t think of anything I would change about these bags now. Would I keep this project going if I could? Yes, yes and triple yes! I would love to keep it going. Part of the reason I’m writing this is to spread the word, to let people like you know about this. Now, you can use the following checklist to put together a Birthday In a Bag on your own, and donate to a local family shelter or food pantry.
Each bag we put together includes:
- big gift bag or cute reusable bag (that everything else is packed in)
- cake mix
- container of confetti frosting (because sprinkles are more fun)
- candles
- paper party plates
- paper party cups
- 2-liter bottle of sprite or 7up
-wrapping tissue (to cover bag contents, and so parents can wrap the book)
-picture book, coloring/drawing book, and/or other small gift
Big thanks to everyone who has helped so far, including Nana and Vavu Lima, Cindy at The Bookshelf in Eagle River, Nancy at Learning Essentials in Wasilla, Mary at Just Imagine Toys in Wasilla, our friends on Savage Drive, members of the United Methodist Church in Chugiak and our friends and family far and wide who have supported us with donations and words of encouragement. Here’s wishing you joy to the max!
From Mom:
“We are so proud of Maeve and Ashley, and our communities that continue to support this endeavor. The feedback they’ve received has been diverse, overwhelmingly positive and sometimes heavy. We know we are not alone in missing a beloved baby, and SIDS is too often the cause of infant death.
This project was created in memory of King Maximus Randall, May 17, 2016 - September 18, 2016. He was an organ donor, providing heart donations necessary to keep two babies alive. In life, he was rosy-cheeked and chubby, a smiling, burbling, cooing, perfect baby, watching the wild world through bright eyes. In death, he was a hero, saving lives.
I am grateful to King Carter and Nicole Lima for giving us Max, and for letting us share his story and celebrate our endless love for him. Special thanks to Jessie Dietzal at Spread Love For Miles for her compassion and encouragement, for continuing to bring light in times of darkness.
If you’re interested in getting involved you can find me on Facebook at Brenna Nikalee Rath, or email Bnikalee@gmail.com, or make and donate a Birthday In A Bag on your own. Post a photo of it on social media with the hashtags #JoyToTheMax #KingMaxForever #IThoughtOfMax.”
