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Marjorie turned six last Saturday and we celebrated her birthday with family and friends at CALM.  This year we did something different. We decided to celebrate and give back!  So we had an ECHOage party for Marjorie!!!  Instead of receiving tons of presents on her birthday, we asked her how she likes the idea of sharing and giving back to the community.  We explained to her that she will still have a present to open at her party but instead of receiving multiple gifts from everyone, she will get ONE special gift that she really wants to get for her birthday.  She agreed.  We asked her to make a wish list and on her birthday, she will find out what we got for her. 

About 4 weeks before her birthday party, we sent out invitations to families and friends via email letting them know that this year, we are celebrating with gifts that give back.  We invited them to view her invitation and request online.  She chose the International Child Art Foundation to be recipient of half of her ECHOage funds.  We received a real good response.  Some people did ask how they can donate if they are not comfortable to give their information online.  So we came up with the idea of asking them to donate to CALM instead.  We sent them a wish list from CALM and requested that they bring something from that list instead of bringing in a wrapped present for Marjorie.  It all turned out great!!! Marjorie was able to raise $124 on ECHOage to support ONE meaningful cause and $124 for her ONE special gift.  We only spent $85 for her gift so we agreed to donate the remaining money to CALM.  At her party, she raised another $70 for the zoo and was able to give them a bag of cat food and bird seeds.

All the kids had a blast at her party... we had face painting and a silly magic show... and we ended the day with a train ride!  We wished we had more time to go around the zoo but we didn't have enough time! 

More photos courtesy of Mike Lancaster at: http://www.glendalehigh.com...