A decade ago, Laura Perez met a man who wanted to get his son a birthday present.

The man was homeless and temporarily staying at Perez’s church in downtown Salem as part of Family Promise’s shelter program.

He walked from downtown Salem to the south Salem Walmart in search of the toy his son wanted. But the $30 price tag was more than he could afford while trying to save for housing.

It was the push Perez and her friend Sheronne Blasi needed to start Simple Birthdays.

Since 2015, the two women have put on birthday parties for nearly 500 Salem kids living in shelters. They started with just seven in the first year and have been growing since. So far this year, they’ve celebrated 116 birthdays.

Blasi, who works for the state Department of Veterans Affairs, is a former school board member. She grew up in a family that often couldn’t afford presents.

“I only remember ever having one birthday party as a child,” she said.

Perez is a retired teacher and school administrator. 

The women met while volunteering for another nonprofit that helped kids in need celebrate birthdays, but after the founder moved away, the organization stopped working in Salem around 2013. They decided to pick up the mantle.

They hope to fight the stigma children can feel when they miss out on experiences because their families can’t afford them.

“This is one of those normalizing experiences for them. They can go back to school and talk about their birthday party,” Perez said.

The two women split participating shelters between them.

Simply Birthdays has grown rapidly since adding Church at the Park’s family shelter to its roster last year. With 72 children staying in the micro shelters in Northeast Portland Road, Perez or Blasi are there nearly every week dropping off a cake and bags of presents.

That’s also led to a need to fundraise for the first time in the nonprofit’s history. Perez and Blasi have kept things running through small donations, their own money and some grants over the years.

Usually, Perez said a new donation would materialize just as they were running low on money.

“When you’re doing the right work, things work out,” Perez said.

But as they’ve added more shelters, the need has stretched beyond what they’re able to do by word of mouth.

On Wednesday morning, Perez stopped at the Safeway on Northeast Center Street to pick up two round chocolate cakes. She’s a familiar face to the bakery and floral workers in the store, who decorate cakes and fill balloons.

The trunk of her Subaru Outback was full with two overflowing bags of presents destined for two boys at the shelter.

Keely Herrera, a peer support specialist at the shelter, said she’s seen how a few toys help build connections in the shelter community. A few months ago, a girl at the shelter got some Barbies through the program. Herrera said she’s been playing with them every day and spending more time playing with her parents.

“The moment when they receive the gifts just provides that sense of hope,” Herrera said. “It brings this normalcy in their life.”

The organization gives kids a “party in a bag” — four or five gifts per child, plus a cake, paper plates and party favors. Kids and parents fill out an information sheet before the party requesting a cake flavor and selecting favorite colors, activities and desired gifts.

Perez and Blasi use those to shop for each child. They also collect donated toys which they store and add to gift bags as needed. All told, the cost is about $115 per child.

Perez “does such a beautiful job making sure the gifts are tailored to what that child is desiring and hoping to receive,” said Thresa West, who works in family services for St. Francis Family Housing.

Usually, presents are dropped off at the shelter so families can celebrate at their convenience. But Simply Birthdays also puts on a monthly birthday party at Simonka Place, the women and children’s shelter in Keizer.

Every child with a birthday that month gets gifts and a celebration. 

“The kids have always been super excited for each other,” Perez said. “Nobody argues over toys.”

Often, the women without children staying in the shelter join in too. Perez remembers early in the organization’s history, a woman living at the shelter pressed a dollar into her hand — her contribution to the party.

“That meant so much to me, that she wanted to give something she didn’t have,” Perez said.

Simply Birthdays accepts monetary donations, as well as donations of toys and party items. More information is available on their website.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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