Who we are
We are a 501c3 nonprofit in Kansas City, MO. We are the only nonprofit in Kansas City metro with a mission for all children to be celebrated on their birthdays! We launched Birthday Connections to fill a void to make sure low-income children are recognized and celebrated on their birthdays.
What we do
We collaborate with local social service agencies to refer families who have children with an upcoming birthday. Through our program, low-income families have the agency to choose, with their children’s preferences in mind, from gifts or gift cards, a book, a birthday card, and a sweet treat created with their specifications.
Read more about who we are and what we do on our blog page.
3 key things about Birthday Connections
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To protect every family’s privacy and dignity, we require the social services agencies to liaise between our nonprofit and the referred families. We remain anonymous to the families and the identities of the families remain anonymous to us.
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We upended the traditional adopt-a-child gift-giving model. On our website, we developed an online shopping platform for families to log in and shop with dignity and autonomy for the birthday gifts they want for their children.
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We offer a wide range of gift options for families to shop. We don’t have a physical stock of gifts predominately because it would limit the variety of products families would have to choose from. Instead, families select from a scrolling list of product items. Once they complete their selections, we fulfill the requests by shopping online, and locally when it’s feasible.
All families are served regardless of race, ethnicity, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
Board of Directors
Youth Board
Riya Raj, Pembroke Hill
Advisory Board
Chef Dan Hogan, Kansas City Public Schools – Sweet Treats
Celeste Carlson, Growing Good - Strategic Planning
Allison Vrooman, Catholic Diocese of Kansas City and Saint Joseph - Social Media
Holly Pollard, Brookside Toy & Science – Digital Marketplace
Jeff Webber, Webber Agency – Website Development
Anna Webber, American Public Media – Data Analysis
Cathy McFarland, Oracle/Cerner
Thank you to our growing list of partners and agencies!
Birthday Connections supports diversity across all lines of difference, including age, economic circumstance, ethnicity, sex, race, range of ability, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity/expression.