Lavish birthday party's cost = A poor child's education cost for 12 years

All of us love our kids, so much. In fact, they are our world. We would do anything for them. Our kids' birthdays are very special to us. Birthdays are definitely important milestones to celebrate. First of all, we want the birthday to be very memorable for our kids. Second of all, it is the right time for us to pat ourselves for our excellent work of managing them, another year.

Parents spend a lot of money to celebrate their kid's birthdays. We invite friends/relatives for an evening get together. We order food, cake & mementos. An average birthday party costs anywhere from $600 - $1000 (in US) & at least Rs.25,000 (in India). We all rejoice that evening. The kids definitely have lots of fun. They feel so special. Now, fast forward 25 years. Will our kid remember the 'grand birthday party' that we organized, 25 years ago (without us showing him/her the birthday photographs?). Will our friends/relatives remember all the birthday parties they attended?

So, what is my point, here? Am, I asking you NOT to celebrate birthdays? Am I asking you NOT to throw birthday parties? Am I trying to say that the money spent on birthday parties is a WASTE?

No... No... No...

As I said earlier, birthday celebrations are very important for kids. Some kids do remember whether you celebrated their birthdays or not. But, what they DON'T REMEMBER or what they DON'T CARE is 'How grand the celebration was'.

Do you know what difference you can make in the life of some people, if you are able to scale-down the magnitude of such birthday parties? With $600 you can sponsor a child's education up to +2 level (i.e., 14 years of education). With Rs.10,000 you can take care of all the expenses of a child for 1 year (including education). Imagine the difference you can make on the life of these kids. Your friends may forget the birthday parties in a year or so. But, these kids who are receiving your sponsorship will remember you forever. If you start to sponsor a child's education, up to +2, every year, by the time your kid turns 20, you would've changed the life of 20 kids. Imagine the satisfaction that you'll get by performing such a noble deed.

You may think, "Why should I cut-down on my kid's birthday party spending? I'll organize a big birthday bash & I'll also donate some money to support poor kids". The "conservative" in me, still feels that the money spent on the big birthday bash can help another poor kid. But, if you can help support a kid every year, that itself is wonderful. You'll be remembered very much for that noble deed. The famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said, "You can have everything you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want!”

If you are interested, you can donate to Udavum Karangal. Donating to Udavum Karangal is very easy. You can do it from their web site, with your credit card. You'll get regular progress reports for the child you are sponsoring. 

(Note: I'm not associated with Udavum Karangal. But, I have been to their facilities in the past. They really do a good job of taking care of the kids & needy people. They really put your hard earned money to good use)