The Zonies family is hoping to get their friends and neighbors to join in on a family project that has them giving back to the less fortunate.
Moorestown resident Meghan Zonies said when her daughter Julia was turning 5 this past October, she wanted to turn birthday party planning into an opportunity to teach her young daughter an important lesson in empathy, so the family also collected party supplies to donate to a local nonprofit.
What started as a lesson for her daughter on giving back has since transformed into an ongoing family project. Zonies and her two daughters — Julia, age 5, and Jane, age 3 — are continuously collecting birthday supplies and hoping they inspire their friends and neighbors to get involved as well.
Zonies said she and her husband try to do monthly projects with their daughters to make them aware of how fortunate they are and what they can do for others. She said as a parent and teacher in the Marlton school district, she’s a firm believer that children’s social and emotional development is one of the most important parts of the whole child.
While Zonies knew it was important to instill her children with a sense of empathy, she thought it was even more important to show her daughters what to do with those feelings.
“You have to be able to take that feeling of empathy and do something to help whatever it is you want to do,” Zonies said.
So as she began planning Julia’s birthday party, she explained to her daughter there are children who don’t have the opportunity to have a birthday party. She said the sentiment touched her daughter who wanted to know what they could do to help.
Julia informed her mother she wanted to give a birthday party to kids who didn’t have them, so Zonies began researching local charities that collect birthday supplies. Zonies said their initial idea was to bake and bring birthday cakes to homeless shelters or food pantries, but as they planned Julia’s party, they realized there were other necessary supplies that went into throwing a birthday party.
Following some research, Zonies came upon The Unforgotten Haven in Blackwood, which collects clothing and other supplies for the less fortunate. As they shopped for Julia’s party, the family began buying double of each item: one for Julia and one for donation.
They quickly realized they could provide these supplies at a minimal cost. She said trips to local stores showed the family that these simple and inexpensive supplies were easy to accumulate for donation.
Since embarking on their donation journey back in October, the family now makes monthly trips to The Unforgotten Haven to donate. The family collects candles, cake mix, balloons, tablecloths, party hats and other napkins. Additionally, in every birthday bag they assemble, they include a birthday card for parents to give their children and a small birthday present such as a toy or coloring book.
She said Julia being 5 years old is getting the message, and she’s happy to expose her 3-year-old Jane to giving back at such a young age.
“I’m happy because it’s helping somebody out,” Julia said.
Zonies said thinking about the positive impact they were making in kids in need in the area they were making made her want to branch out and encourage others to get involved in giving back. She said she took to Facebook and posted in the Moorestown Parents page explaining the work they are doing.
She encouraged anyone who wanted to assemble a birthday bag to contact her, and the family would bring the supplies to The Unforgotten Haven on their next trip. She said within a short time period, she received upward of 30 messages from people who wanted to bring bags over.
Zonies said her hope is they inspire parents to return to the project each year and connect their children’s birthday with giving back.
To contact Zonies about donating a birthday bag, email [email protected]. For more information on The Unforgotten Haven, visit unforgottenhaven.org.
