海角大神

Dozens of students line up single file at the door of Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary school in Richmond, Va., vibrating with excitement. The children vary in age and ethnicity, but they have a unifying feature: a paper party hat.

鈥淚鈥檓 so excited I鈥檓 gonna faint!鈥� giggles Parris, 8, as she jumps up and down while managing to stay in line.

鈥淭his is my second one,鈥� whispers Genesis, 8, referring to her second year-in-a-row of having a birthday party.

Founded by Julia Warren in 2013 when she was 16-years-old, the nonprofit organization Celebrate! RVA throws birthday parties for the elementary school students at Oak Grove-Bellemeade every month. Grouped together by birth month, the students celebrate with music and cake alongside their peers, teachers, and local volunteers.

But it鈥檚 more than just a two-hour party, says Ms. Warren.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 really important is to create a culture of celebration, and telling these kids that they are rock stars. And that鈥檚 what we do 鈥� tell each kid that they matter and that they deserve to be surrounded by people who want to celebrate them,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hether it鈥檚 in school or on the basketball court, we need to tell these kids they matter.鈥�

Mary Valenze, community and schools coordinator at Oak Grove, says students and teachers alike eagerly anticipate each month鈥檚 party.

鈥淚鈥檓 sure some of our children do have birthday parties at home, but for some of our kids this is a bigger deal than normal,鈥� Ms. Valenze says. 鈥淭o get to see kids who may not have the best home situation forget about that for an hour and not worry about things that may be going on at home 鈥� it鈥檚 nice.鈥�

Oak Grove-Bellemeade ranks below 98.5 percent of elementary schools in Virginia. And among public elementary schools in Richmond, Oak Grove-Bellemeade was 22nd among 26 schools.

Hillside Court, the neighborhood surrounding Oak Grove-Bellemeade, has a crime rate 140 percent higher than the national average. In fact, one survey suggest that 99 percent of Virginia cities are safer than Hillside.

鈥淏ringing awareness to our community through Celebrate! is a great thing,鈥� Valenze says. 鈥淎 lot of people don鈥檛 know that much about this area, so it鈥檚 a whole different experience for them.鈥�

Richmond police Lt. Dave Naoroz says when he first heard about the Celebrate events at Oak Grove-Bellemeade, he thought it was 鈥渇antastic.鈥� After getting in touch with Juila, Lieutenant Naoroz began attending monthly parties and inviting his colleagues to do the same.

鈥淥nce officers are assigned to it, they keep asking 鈥楬ey when is the next one?鈥� 鈥� Naoroz says. 鈥淲e try to plug ourselves into the community, but Celebrate! gives us the chance to sit down and interact with a big group of kids, just by eating cake with them and finding out their birthday wish.鈥�

It doesn鈥檛 take long to find similarities between the students and his own son, a third grader.

鈥淲e obviously don鈥檛 take the badge off, but metaphorically, we sit down and take the badge off,鈥� Naoroz says. 鈥淚t makes us less of a cop and more of a person. It鈥檚 good for the kids, and it鈥檚 definitely good for the police.鈥�

With a long list of donors and volunteers from across the city, Celebrate! brings light into an often dark part of Richmond.

鈥淚 can talk all day about the importance of a birthday party and what joy can do for a child鈥檚 heart, but a lot of donors want numbers,鈥� Warren says. 鈥淭hey can see numbers from a food bank and from the children鈥檚 hospital 鈥� but joy is such an intangible thing.鈥�

She quickly learned that the best way to explain the impact of Celebrate! to donors was to invite them to a party.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 when it really clicks for them that they are creating happiness and giving these children an opportunity they wouldn鈥檛 have otherwise," Warren says. "It gives a personal connection to our mission.鈥�

鈥� Learn more about Celebrate! RVA at http://celebraterva.org.