Who We Are/What We Do

Birthday Joy, a 501(c)(3) organization, provides birthday gifts to children in need. Every child deserves to celebrate the day they were born. 

While attending birthday parties with her children when they were young, our founder Cindy Lander Wallach began thinking about boys and girls that weren’t able to experience this birthday joy. She and her husband John discussed this with their kids. After meeting people from homeless shelters and children’s agencies, Cindy realized that many children weren’t receiving any special recognition on their birthdays. Caseworkers explained that celebrating a birthday could bring a sense of normalcy to a child’s life. So, on April 2, 2012, Birthday Joy was born.

How Birthday Joy Works

Birthday Joy works with social workers and case managers to provide gifts that boys and girls will enjoy. The gifts are delivered to agencies to help make birthdays memorable for every individual child on their special day. The recognition and celebration of this day can bring a sense of normalcy to a child’s life that may otherwise be unpredictable, volatile, and sometimes violent. Without Birthday Joy, a child might not receive any recognition at all on their birthday. But with your help, we can ensure that boys and girls will know that someone is thinking of them.

For those children who have parents who want to be involved, parents can select birthday gifts at no cost through Birthday Joy Areas located at shelters throughout the community. Of course, every child and circumstance is different. However, the outcome is the same: making a child feel special on the day they were born.