By Arwen Hann - Like most young children, one-year-old Aoife loves toys. But also like many, she often prefers the cardboard box to the toy inside.
So as her first birthday approached, her parents Rhiannon and Seán wondered if there was another way to mark the occasion - one that wouldn’t add to the pile of toys but instead could make a difference to someone else.
“Aoife has so much love surrounding her and people are so generous that she already has lots of things”, mum Rhiannon says. “Plus we have quite a small house with practically no storage so having more toys can be a problem! I love op-shopping and I try to be eco-conscious so a birthday celebration not so focused on stuff was perfect”.
Rhiannon had heard about The Good Registry through a friend who had recently run a fundraiser for her son and thought it was a great option for something different for Aoife’s birthday.
After looking through the charities, the couple settled on St John - an organisation that helped the family following Aoife’s birth.
After Aoife was successfully born at home, Rhiannon developed a retained placenta, a medical emergency, and had to be taken to hospital. It was St John that took her there in the ambulance and looked after her on the way.
“There were so many good charities to choose from but we wanted to pick something that we had experience with”, Rhiannon says. “St John were so good to me when I needed them and it always amazes me that they aren’t fully funded by the government. They do such a great job and I’ve never met an ambulance officer that I didn’t like”.
Setting up the registry was easy, but getting the message to family and friends was a bit trickier.
“We put it on the invitations, but I don’t think people read it properly as I had lots of people contact us and ask what Aoife would like”, Rhiannon says. “But once people understood it was well received by most of them and I was pleased that we raised around $350”.
Such was the success of Aoife’s registry, Rhiannon is now planning another first birthday fundraiser for the new baby that she is expecting.
“We want our kids to grow up learning about service and kindness to others and that we are lucky we have a roof over our heads and nice things”, she says. “So definitely, we’ll do another fundraiser”.
Would you like to help raise money for a deserving charity too?
The Good Registry makes it easy. Simply set up a registry for your special event and choose your charity from our list of partners (or get in touch if the charity you'd like to support isn't there). Then invite friends and family to donate to your registry via our platform.
You can also give a Good Gift Card to someone for their birthday, as a thank you present, or just to say you care.. They get an electronic gift card which they can use to donate to one or more of their chosen charities (we have 65 for them to choose from).
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