Class Receives Funding For 'Birthday Boxes'

First graders at Elkhorn Valley are learning what it means to be a philanthropist.

On Sunday, three representatives from Megan Eggers’ first grade class presented the class project called “Happy Birthday Boxes” at the Northeast Nebraska Youth Philanthropy Contest.

Eggers said the idea for the project came from her student Mavrick Afrank and his mom, Emily.

“Emily then brought up the idea to me and Mavrick thought it would be great to do with his class,” Eggers said.

Eggers explained that the birthday boxes are basically storage containers “filled with the supplies necessary to throw a birthday party, (including) cake mix, pans, candles, plates, napkins, party hats, games, etc.”

The idea behind the project is for children to be able to have a birthday party of their own whose parents may not be able to afford to throw one.

“I absolutely loved the idea and knew that it would be something that kids this age could understand the feeling of, as birthdays are such an important event for them,” Eggers said.

The class went through the process of finding out what to include in the boxes, how much each would cost and understanding the importance and purpose behind the project.

“The class hand wrote their supply list, purpose statements, schools selected list, and made the balloons for our poster,” explained Eggers. “We then entered our project in the Northeast Nebraska Youth Philanthropy Contest.”

Eggers selected three representatives, Amelia Wright, Eddan Sauser and Mavrick Afrank, to attend Sunday’s presentation and announcement reception in Norfolk.

“They talked and shared about our project to others at the event and represented our class when they announced that our project would be funded and we will be receiving $1,000 to make 50 more birthday boxes,” Eggers said.

The class will be distributing the “Happy Birthday Boxes” to area schools including Neligh-Oakdale, Battle Creek, Newman Grove and Elkhorn Valley to ask teachers and staff if they have any students that could benefit from receiving a box.
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“So proud of my firsties!” Eggers wrote on her Facebook page.