By Ainsley Harris.
At just 9 years old, Macklin Devlin is one of our younger Good Sorts on The Good Registry.
In October this year, Macklin created a registry for his 9th birthday so instead of receiving gifts, his friends and family could help him raise funds for Big Buddy.
Big Buddy is an organisation that’s all about encouraging confidence and resilience in the lives of boys without a father around. The programme recruits good guys from the community to spend time with boys aged between 7–14, so they can enjoy male friendship, guidance, someone to look up to and maybe even kick a ball round with.
So why did Macklin decide to donate his birthday?
“I wanted to help kids that don’t have dads, and Big Buddy helps kids,” he said.
“My mum told me about it because my sister donated money for the SPCA. They really liked it and so do I.”
Macklin’s younger sister Maisie created a registry for her birthday in May this year, raising $135 for the SPCA.
Macklin said he had an amazing birthday, and his registry helped raise $165 for Big Buddy.
“My friends still liked my birthday! Dylan my friend said that it was the best birthday ever.
“I had a chocolate cake with dinosaurs on it!”
At first, Macklin said his friends were a little confused, but after he showed them his gift registry page on The Good Registry website, they really liked the idea.
“At school with my friends I’m part of the Mega Incredible Search for Dinosaur Rescue Squad — MISFRDS. We search and rescue dinosaurs.”
Is the Good Registry MISFRDS approved?
“Yeah! They liked it! Said it was amazing.”
Macklin’s mum Maree said she floated the idea to Macklin before his birthday, and he was really keen. He’d still get presents from his immediate family, but he could choose the charity that his friends and family could donate to.
“A lot of people said that’s so amazing, my child wouldn’t do that! But they would, if you give them the option,” Maree said.
“He missed nothing and still had an amazing birthday. It made the birthday very good, and not just about ‘stuff’!”
We asked Macklin how it felt to give to Big Buddy.
“Yeah it felt quite good!”
“I want to do it again next year, and donate to Wellington Zoo.”
Macklin says he’s still waiting for a Dinosaur Charity to be added to The Good Registry.
We'll work on that Macklin!
Would you like the joy of giving too?
At The Good Registry, we have created two simple ways to give and receive the gift of giving through our website:
- Create your own Good Registry for a special event (like Macklin did) and ask friends to donate to a charity you choose, instead of buying gifts.
- Give Good Gift Cards instead of traditional gifts, to avoid unwanted gifts, reduce waste, and enable others to make donations to charities they care about.
You can hear from people and businesses who have used Good Registries and Good Gift Cards to give more simply and sustainably, and to help causes they care about, on our inspirational Giving Wall.
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