While pregnant with her first child in 2008, Paige Chenault was excited thinking about future birthday parties she would throw for her little one. But when she realized some kids never get to experience that rite of passage for children, she was inspired to do something about it. In 2012, she founded The Birthday Party Project , a nonprofit that throws birthday parties for kids in homeless shelters.
Now the group has grown and every month they throw birthday parties in homeless shelters in 15 cities, including Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. The mom from Texas has been honored by Toyota’s Mothers of Invention for The Birthday Party Project and their efforts to make positive changes in the world.
Some of the kids at these shelters have never even had a birthday party before, so they work to make each and every one of the children feel like they deserve to be celebrated. "I'm so proud of grassroots efforts, and I think that is what's so powerful about The Birthday Party Project," Chenault says. "From the beginning, we just used the resources we had at our disposal. Truly, people just rallied around this idea and showed up ready to celebrate kids."