For Nayeli, our co-founder, birthdays have always been an important celebration, a day to feel seen, loved, and celebrated. Ever since she asked for a cake she saw in Southern Living magazine at age five, her birthday has meant the same homemade grasshopper ice cream cake, every single year.
The birthday cake that started it all
She started the Birthday Party Project while volunteering for her National Honors Society chapter at a local shelter for families experiencing homelessness. She saw how much care the shelter puts into supporting each family, and how stretched resources can be for extras like birthday celebrations. She wanted to help make sure every child's birthday felt truly celebrated.
So once a month, she bakes treats and decorates birthday cakes for the children at a local shelter in Decatur. She works with the shelter to know whose birthdays are coming up and makes each cake with the same care she brings to every order. Then she brings the cakes over, helps set up the celebration, and stays to celebrate with the children and their families.
It's a small thing, and it's simply meant to make one day feel a little more special.
Looking ahead
Today, Little Jars Bakeshop covers the cost of every birthday party, and we're grateful to be able to support Nayeli's work. Our hope is to bring birthday celebrations to more children and families over time.
To help the project grow, we're exploring becoming a nonprofit, so that others who share this hope can one day be part of it too.
If you know of a shelter or organization that might like to be involved, or you'd like to hear about the project as it grows, we'd love to hear from you.