Ve’ahavta means ‘And You Shall Love’
Posted: March 1, 2018 Filed under: Birthday Gifts, Charity, Charity birthday party, ECHOage Birthday Parties, kids birthday party ideas, Stories about children, Ve'ahavta Leave a commentAsher is our hero! He supported one of the fantastic ECHOage Partners: Ve’ahavta
Ve’ahavta is a Jewish charitable social service organization dedicated to promoting positive change in the lives of people of all faiths who are marginalized by poverty.
ASHER IS OUR HERO
Ve’ahavta (Hebrew for “and you shall love”) is committed to engaging community members in a meaningful and hands-on way to support our collective mission of tikun olam (repairing the world).
Ve’ahavta delivers poverty alleviation programs that break down barriers, restore human dignity, foster capacity-building, and empower marginalized individuals to break the cycle of poverty.
Ve’ahavta clients include marginalized and at-risk individuals, including those who struggle with homelessness, urban poverty, or live in under-served Aboriginal communities.
Ve’ahavta believes that each individual possesses unique gifts, and given the right opportunities and supports, will realize their full potential.
Ve’ahavta collaborates with many local community agencies and national partners in order to expand the scope of our reach, leverage existing resources, and increase the impact of our donor dollars.
She chose CHEO! Way to go, Maya!
Posted: February 27, 2018 Filed under: Birthday Gifts, Charity, Charity birthday party, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, ECHOage Birthday Parties, kids birthday party ideas, Stories about children Leave a commentMeet Maya. This amazing 10 year old girl has had 4 ECHOage parties! Her last three have been in support of CHEO – now that’s commitment. Way to go Maya. We know that others will follow in your footsteps.
In Maya’s words:
“I wanted to donate money to the CHEO Foundation because they have helped me twice – first when I broke my leg, and second when I had hip surgery. The hospital is a really great place for kids… the doctors are very nice and the nurses are really helpful and caring. We are so lucky to have such a great hospital in the area!”
And Maya chose golf clubs as her gift:
“My Dad took me to a golf show earlier this year and I got to try out some clubs… it was a lot of fun! I would like to take golf lessons with my Dad because he is really good!! And I hope that I can be as good a golfer as him… and Brooke Henderson!”
Alex Inspires
Posted: February 26, 2018 Filed under: Birthday Gifts, Charity birthday party, Gifts, kids birthday party ideas, Make-A-Wish Canada Leave a comment
Alex is only 6, but kids can do amazing things! She chose Make-A-Wish Canada one of ECHOage’s longtime partners to support at her ECHOage birthday party.
In the words of Alex’s mom:
We sorted through all the charity logos and explained what each charity was about. Alex pointed to the ones she wanted to know more about and we selected some to show her as well. We were hoping to support a charity with a local presence, and Make-a-Wish had photos and stories that spoke to us; to Alex. We work hard to instil the right values at home, and charitable giving is one of those core values. Alex liked the idea of doing a good deed as part of her birthday celebrations, once we explained how EchoAge worked.
“Giving Alex a doll house was almost as much my dream as it was her’s”, laughed Alex’s mom, Andee. “Firstly, the thought of getting a slew of random gifts that might be duplicates of what we already have, or that don’t come with gift receipts, was just something I wanted to avoid. Secondly, having a collabourative gift allowed us to actually afford the doll house. Lastly, it’s no longer the trend to open gifts at a kid’s party anymore, for fear of the birthday boy or girl having a poor reaction to the opened gift. In our case, everyone pitched in to get Alex something they knew she wanted, so we reincorporated this party tradition and all our guests got to see my daughter’s excitement as she opened her gift. It gave everyone so much joy to see the doll house they helped buy for her.”
To Alex and Andee and the whole family, ECHOage is so thrilled you loved this idea for birthdays, thrilled you chose Make-A-Wish Canada and just as excited as you are about THE DOLL HOUSE! XO Love ECHOage
Matan is our hero
Posted: February 23, 2018 Filed under: Charity, Charity birthday party, Kayla's Children Centre, kids birthday party ideas, Uncategorized Leave a commentMeet Matan. He’s 6 years old. If you want to feel inspired, just think of him. He chose to support Kayla’s Children’s Centre for his ECHOage party. The reason he chose to support this wonderful cause?
“Because I love them and I want them to feel better and good. When they go to the doctor they can pay so they can feel better.”
Kids like Matan help open our eyes. Kayla’s Children’s Centre empowers children with special needs to develop life enhancing skills, self-esteem, and confidence. Thank you Matan for raising awareness, and much needed funds, for this amazing ECHOage partner. We’re so proud of you. Happy Birthday Matan! Love ECHOage XO
Matan is our hero
Kayla’s Children Centre was founded in May 2017 as a non-profit organization that resulted from the merger of the Zareinu Educational Center of Metropolitan Toronto (founded in 1989) and Project AIM Programs (founded in 2007). Both shared a passionate desire to empower children with special needs to develop life enhancing skills, self-esteem, and confidence. Recognizing their synergies, Zareinu and Project AIM concluded that as a single entity they could be a dream come true for children with special needs and their families, providing everything they require under one roof, year round, in a state-of-the-art facility.
Brody is ready to help a friend
Posted: February 21, 2018 Filed under: Birthday Gifts, Charity, Charity birthday party, kids birthday party ideas, Starlight Children's Foundation Canada Leave a commentBrody, age 7, chose Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada for his ECHOage party.
It’s simple and he tells us why:
One of my friends wasn’t feeling well and Starlight helped him to feel better.
Everyone at ECHOage is saluting you today, Brody! You are our hero of the day and we know that you’ll inspire many children to follow in your footsteps.
Congratulations Brody. Happy 7th Birthday! Love ECHOage XO
Brody is our hero
Study of North American Charities Reveals That Kids Are Important Fundraisers
Posted: February 19, 2018 Filed under: Charity, Charity birthday party, ECHOage Birthday Parties, ECHOage Heroes and Amazing Birthday Ideas, Gifts, kids birthday party ideas, Make-A-Wish Canada, Stories about children, World Wildlife Fund, wwf.ca Leave a commentECHOage.com, the better way to celebrate, announced findings of a study of North American charities revealing that kids are important fundraisers for charities – and in many cases are influential when it comes to their parents’ and grandparents’ decisions on charitable giving. Partners such as Make-A-Wish Canada, WWF, and SickKids participated.
ECHOage is fully aware of the impact kids can have and to better understand the relationship between charitable giving and children, ECHOage recently conducted a study of North American charities revealing that:
- 80% of charities believe that kids are capable of being meaningful fundraisers for their charity
- 92% of charities think that teaching kids about fundraising from a young age helps them become more financially responsible
- 68% of charities know of situations where kids have influenced their parents’ or grandparents’ decision to support their charity
- 84% of charities indicate that it’s very important to expose people to fundraising at a young age
“We’ve always known that kids are capable of making an impact – the results of this survey and our $10 million raised in 10 years milestone are proof that when given the tools to give, kids not only mean business but are important stakeholders for North American charities, often influencing decisions of others when it comes to charitable giving,” says Alison Smith, Co-Founder, ECHOage.
ECHOage Kids Raised 10 Million Dollars for Charity
Go Tyler Go!
Posted: February 16, 2018 Filed under: Birthday Gifts, Canadian Tire Jumpstart, Charity birthday party, ECHOage Birthday Parties, ECHOage Heroes and Amazing Birthday Ideas, Gifts, kids birthday party ideas Leave a comment
Tyler is our hero
Tyler chose to support a fantastic cause: Canadian Tire Jumpstart.
Canadian Tire Jumpstart helps children between the ages of 4-18 participate in organized sports and physical activities. They assist with the costs associated with registration, equipment and/or transportation for sports and physical activity programming.
But Jumpstart is more than just about getting kids active. It’s about giving kids from families in financial need the same chance to participate as their neighbours, their classmates and their friends. Whether it’s the chance to try a new sport or to continue with a favourite one, no kid should be left out.
His Mom say; “Tyler loves hockey, and choosing a hockey item for his birthday gift just made sense.”
Our partners speak … A little love from Autism Speaks
Posted: February 15, 2018 Filed under: Autism Speaks Canada, Charity birthday party, ECHOage Birthday Parties, ECHOage Heroes and Amazing Birthday Ideas, kids birthday party ideas, Stories about children Leave a commentOne of long time partners is Autism Speaks. We work with the incredible people who make this tireless organization special: Jill Farber, Carrie Habert and John Branton. Here are a few words from Carrie about our work together:
“ECHOage occupies the unique position of helping it’s clients as much as it impacts it’s beneficiaries. As birthday hosts chose Autism Speaks Canada as their charity partner, we not only receive donations from the party guests, we make new friends and have the opportunity to spread awareness about autism and the important work that our organization is doing across Canada. The autism community is on the receiving end of the creative and impassioned way that ECHOage is making a difference.”
We remember our friends
Posted: February 15, 2018 Filed under: Birthday Gifts, Charity, Charity birthday party, ECHOage Birthday Parties, ECHOage Heroes and Amazing Birthday Ideas, Gifts, kids birthday party ideas, Stories about children Leave a commentWe never forget our friends. Years ago Parents Magazine wrote a great article about ECHOage by Jessie Assimon: Plan A Birthday Party That Gives Back. Parents is an excellent resource for parents provides great information about party places, cake ideas, there’s so much to explore.
Parents Magazine
It’s simple when you’re 4
Posted: February 15, 2018 Filed under: Birthday Gifts, Charity, Charity birthday party, Gifts, Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, kids birthday party ideas Leave a commentAbel chose our fantastic partner the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada. He’s only 4 but that doesn’t matter. He’s able to help. He’s able to choose. He’s shown us that kids can do way more than adults think.
Why did he choose this fantastic cause?
“I love monkeys! I want them to be safe,” says our hero Abel.
Jane Goodall Institute of Canada is founded by Dr. Jane Goodall who knew there was more than meets the eye.
Dr. Jane Goodall first set foot in what is now known as Gombe Stream National Park in 1960 when she launched her pioneering research with wild chimpanzees. She was only 26 years old. Her research project was unlike any other and has taught us so much about our closest cousins in the animal kingdom.
Jane continues her work today by travelling an average of 300 days per year speaking in packed auditoriums, school gymnasiums, and conference centres about the threats facing chimpanzees, other environmental crises, and her reasons for hope that we will ultimately solve the problems that we have imposed on the earth.
Everywhere she goes, Jane urges audiences to recognize their personal power and responsibility to effect positive change through consumer action, lifestyle change and activism.
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