The 11th Birthday Party (as told by Lynne Michel Blackburn)

Two girls, Delaney Blackburn and Alisa Moortgat, decided to plan a joint birthday party when they discovered that their birthdays were just a few days apart. When they chose to do a roller skating party, we as parents were debating on the "right" number of guests to invite. Imagine our surprise when the girls said that they wanted their guests not to bring presents for them, but to bring donations for paws4people! We all agreed that the girls had no limit to the number of guests they could invite and soon a list of 60 people was made.

The girls are familiar with paws4people because the program has been at their elementary school, Mountain View, since 2003. Also, Delaney's dogs, RIVER and NUGGET, are therapy dogs for paws4people. NUGGET has been working as a therapy dog for ten years, and RIVER has a mere three years under his fur. When Alisa and Delaney asked what would be the best way for the guests to donate to paws4people, Mr. Terry Henry, Executive Director, recommended that the girls read the stories of the children who were waiting for service dogs. After reading the stories, both girls chose Jack. They said, "Jack didn't choose to have shaken baby syndrome, and we want to help him get his service dog!" Soon, 60 birthday invitations were mailed and many guests responded they could attend the party.

The day of the combined 11th birthday party was a big success! The children roller skated and danced around and around for two hours, ate pizza, snacks, and cupcakes. After the roller skating party was over, Alisa and Delaney sat down with all of the donations in front of them, and went through them one-by-one. They were amazed at how generous their friends had been, and couldn't believe that two, now 11-year-old girls, could help to raise $1,250 for Jack's service dog. The donations brought by the guests were either monetary or Petco gift cards. Both Alisa and Delaney proudly gave the donations to Mr. Henry and were excited to hear him say that Jack will hopefully be getting his service dog this fall.

Visit paws4people for more information about our Assistance Dog programs, NPOFundingSolutionS for more information about our nonprofit fundraising programs, and CharityRaffles.org to purchase online raffle tickets, support our programs and Win $1Million!