When Fazana Saleem-Ismail was working in New York City at the Robin Hood Foundation, she watched a child get serenaded with a joyful rendition of “Happy Birthday;” only it wasn’t at a birthday party or in a restaurant – it was in a soup kitchen.
“I felt really sad thinking about a little kid spending their day in a soup kitchen. It tugged at my heart,” said Saleem-Ismail.
She didn’t act on her compassion right away, instead raising her first child in Sri Lanka for two years before moving to the Albany area and becoming pregnant with her second.
“The children would probably be very happy just to have a party, but the goal is to make them feel they’re the person of the day,” said Saleem-Ismail. “Princesses or Dora or Spiderman, at least I know what the children are into so it helps me with decorations, cake and presents.”
When she was finally settled back in the United States, she thought back to how she lovingly planned her daughter’s first birthday party a few years earlier and started wondering if she could put that same care into throwing birthday parties for kids who had nobody else to do it for them: homeless children.
“Homeless children, particularly preschoolers and school age, suffer from behavioral problems because of discord in their lives. Birthdays are a special time for a child; any child looks forward to it, and I wanted to give a child that special moment for their birthday when their lives are in such flux,” said Saleem-Ismail. “They could feel like a king or queen for a day.”
In March 2011, Saleem-Ismail reached out to St. Catherine’s Center for Children and has been organizing birthday parties once a month since May at the Marillac Family Shelter, a shelter for homeless families on Washington Avenue Extension in Guilderland.
Parties are held the third Saturday of every month and last from 1-4 p.m. (including set up and clean up). She works with the center’s activities coordinator to figure out how many children have birthdays that month (so far it’s been about two) and what ages.
Then she sets out to make it as personalized as possible.
“The children would probably be very happy just to have a party, but the goal is to make them feel they’re the person of the day,” said Saleem-Ismail. “Princesses or Dora or Spiderman, at least I know what the children are into so it helps me with decorations, cake and presents.”
One month, Saleem-Ismail threw a Justin Bieber/princess party. Another month featured a Mickey Mouse theme. The parties draw around 20 children and include arts and crafts, party games, Wii sessions, pizza and cake. Each partygoer leaves with a goody bag and each birthday child gets three or four gifts after the party is over.
“One of the most precious moments for me was after the first party, while I was cleaning up, my friend said ‘Look outside at the courtyard,’ and there were about seven or eight kids out there blowing bubbles that were included in their goody bag,” said Saleem-Ismail. “That made me feel happy because that’s what I wanted to capture for these kids. Don’t worry about anything for an hour.”
Parties cost about $300 to pull off, said Saleem-Ismail. Her budget is extremely low and though she operates under the name “Jazzy Sun Birthdays,” (a combination of her own kids’ names) she doesn’t have nonprofit status. That means she relies on donations of money, food and other items to make the parties happen. So far, pizza has been donated for each party by places like Paesan’s Pizza, Inferno Pizza and Pizza Hut. Individual donors have supplied cakes, as well as Frosted Dreams.
“People found out about the project and what I tried to do was ask people for help with donations and funds,” said Saleem-Ismail.
Shutterfly, an online photo service, donated 60 photo books for Jazzy Sun Birthday’s first year of operation, so each birthday child gets a keepsake.
“Then they at least have lasting memories of the event,” said Saleem-Ismail.
She also uses about three volunteers at each party to help maintain order and make sure it runs smoothly.
Her hope is to expand to more shelters in the Capital District, and, she said, shelters in Rensselaer and Troy have expressed interest. She’s still debating whether she should create her own nonprofit or find an existing organization to partner with.
“I’m trying to figure out which is best for me as well as the project,” said Saleem-Ismail.
Jazzy Sun Birthdays has a Facebook page with photos and information about upcoming parties. It’s also a place where people can inquire about donating money, supplies, services or time.
“Ideally, what I envision for the future is to post online what I need for a particular party, and if people locally are interested, they can purchase it and bring it to me. Or, people somewhere else can purchase it online and have it sent to me,” said Saleem-Ismail. “I envision a way people could get involved any way they’d like so they can feel like they’re part of this project.”
Saleem-Ismail said she welcomes any help people can give. In addition to monetary donations, she’ll accept unused party supplies, gifts, sponsoring a party, connecting her with businesses or volunteering at the party itself. She said children older than 9 years old can volunteer with their parents, and any child can “donate” their party to Jazzy Sun Birthdays.
Anyone interested in getting involved can email [email protected] or call her cell at 646-406-1757. St. Catherine’s Center for Children is fielding donation checks and people can write out a check to St. Catherine’s Center for Children and note “Jazzy Sun Birthdays” or “birthday party project” on the memo line.
