After watching her grandson Jacob go through the heartbreak of a few disappointing birthday parties, a couple of years ago Ronie Williams decided to start hosting monthly community birthday parties for “unique kids” like Jacob in and around their home in Blair Township, Michigan. "We do a birthday party for unique kids,” Ronie explains, “I call them unique kids because I don't like the name 'special needs', because I think they're unique."
Ronie has found that children with special needs are often not invited to their peers’ parties or don’t have many kids at their own parties. "Special needs or unique kids do not get kids to come to their parties, or they don't get invited to parties," Ronie says. "We decided to get together and throw big parties, and celebrate everybody's birthday."
This past weekend, Ronie and Jacob hosted another community birthday party. It was a Spiderman-themed event held at a local park and dozens of kids and adults showed up to celebrate. There were cupcakes, balloons, gifts, and a splash pad for cooling off in. And Spiderman himself made an appearance at the party, taking pictures with the kids and giving out autographs. The event was a chance for kids of "all ages and all levels of uniqueness" to come together, have fun, and most importantly, feel celebrated.