This Cat in the Hat gives free birthday parties to kids who wouldn't have one otherwise

About six years ago, Meg Yunn was working as the director of volunteer services at a small college near Pittsburgh. She sat with 12-year-old Beverly at a local youth program to help the girl with her vocabulary homework. One of the words was 'accustomed' and Meg used the word in a sentence, something on the order of "When people are at a birthday party, they are accustomed to eating cake." Beverly looked confused and told Meg she'd never had a birthday party or a slice of birthday cake.

Meg was shocked. The mother of three burst into tears on her way home from work and told her husband she had to do something about it.

Within a year, Meg left her job and started "Beverly's Birthdays," a non-profit, using $2500 seed money from contest winnings. Beverly's Birthdays' mission is to partner with local agencies to offer free birthday parties (including cake, favors, and gifts) for children who are poor, homeless, or for other reasons would not celebrate their birthday. The 43 Pittsburgh-area agencies who have partnered with Meg on this project include homeless shelters, schools, and social-service agencies, and donations come in from both individuals and corporations.

Now including over 200 volunteers, Beverly's Birthdays hosts 120 group birthday parties a year in the Pittsburgh area. This spreads the fun over 2,000 children and guests, each and every year. Meg still gets into the thick of things, donning her Cat in the Hat costume and handing out donated gifts to the birthday boys and girls.

Meg and Beverly's Birthdays didn't stop at group birthday parties. Working with local food banks, they also offer birthdays-in-a-bag for families to take home, complete with balloons, cake mix, and candles. Birthday boxes are available for schools too, for those occasions where families don't have the means to send in something to celebrate in the classroom. And recently, Beverly’s Birthdays began to host baby showers for new mothers who might not otherwise have one.

All because one woman listened to the pain behind a child's words.