“From the very first time I went into a cottage, the Ryther kids struck my heart and I knew that is where I needed to be.”
Haili Shinn started volunteering with Ryther in December 2013. She came in with the idea of helping coordinate birthday parties for every one of the children in Ryther’s Sub-Acute Residential Treatment program, a program that serves over 80 children each year. Haili plans the party guided by input from the birthday boy or girl. The children get to choose their own theme, party games, and music. Haili provides all of the decorations including a specialized party banner and birthday hat for the child celebrating their bithday, and the Ryther League provides a homemade birthday cake in the party’s theme.
Among the fun and games, Haili also hopes to teach a valuable lesson. She asks each birthday girl or boy, “What is one random act of kindness they can do today to make someone’s day better?” This question has great meaning to Haili. The birthday parties she hosts for Ryther are part of a larger scale project of hers that she calls, Random Acts of Kindness, or RAK for short. “I whole heartedly believe that every kid in the U.S. deserves a birthday party as much as every kid in Ryther does. My ultimate goal is to have a team of volunteers who have the same heart for these amazing kids in every group home in the USA.”
Thank you, Haili, and all of our volunteers who find time in their busy schedules to help brighten up the day of Ryther’s children.