Distributing birthday cheer

By Anthony Bonaparte

This Sunday, the Weizmann group will hold their first Children’s Chanukah party at the Côte St. Luc Gymnasium to support the Birthday Angels Project.The initiative, supported by a minimum $36-per-family tax-receiptable donation, provides birthday parties for disadvantaged inner-city children in Israel.

“They belong to different organizations. Some stay in a women’s shelter with their mothers for obvious reasons,” says Lorie Blumer, program and events coordinator at Weizmann Canada, located in the Town of Mount Royal.

“They just happen to be there and it falls on their birthdays. That’s a pretty down time in their life and for someone to walk in those doors with a cake and a little kit filled with games and decorations, music and stickers, celebrating them and giving them a reason to smile and have a little more self-esteem — just that idea alone is what really makes us passionate about the program.”

The Angels, for their part, receive a personalized thank you card from the birthday child. When Blumer purchased one for her young son, she says when the return package arrived from Israel, he opened it and he saw the photo of the child on the other end.

“It was of a little boy named Yossi who was able to celebrate his birthday for the first time ever with cake, friends and music — things he had never experienced before,” says Blumer.

“For a child to put a face to a story like that, it makes it so real and you really start to understand the idea of philanthropy. At such a young age, it’s still a complex concept and it really simplifies it and illustrates it in a beautiful way.”

Sunday’s Côte St. Luc party will be a fun-filled family event with lots of activities for kids, including bouncy castles, a magic show, a performance by the Tweedle Dees, an arts & crafts table and plenty of prizes. Kosher dietary laws will be observed.

Birthday Angel’s Children’s Party will take place on Sunday, Dec. 6 from 2-5 p.m. at the Côte St. Luc Gym, 7500 Mackle Rd. To see a short video, visit www. weizmann.ca/birthday_angels2.htm. To reserve a space email lorie@weizmann.ca or call 514-342-0777.