KIDS GIVE
FRANCES:
Giving vs. getting
I personally think birthdays are the best day of the year.
On my birthday I wake up to streamers balloons and my own chair decorated like a throne. I make cake with my aunt and I wish for the night to come faster so I can open all my presents.
Before I met 18-year-old Jillian Haun a Truckee kid whose mom Rita Whitaker-Haun taught me about music when I was 2 I thought everyone’s birthday was about what they get. You probably won’t believe this but Jillian gives her birthday away.
Jillian says that she has enough and wants to give back. She admits that she likes presents but she doesn’t want them anymore. ‘There’s so much more to life than getting material things’ she said. So this is what she does: she finds something that’s meaningful to her heart she invites her friends to join her and then she shows up to give.
Last year Jillian gave her birthday to a senior center in Sparks. At first the staff was kind of nervous because they’d never celebrated a teen birthday at the center before. But it turned out great. Jillian her friends and the seniors sat in a circle and talked about where they’ve been and where they are going.
This year Jillian gave her birthday to a helpful organization called Stone Soup a free weekly community soup night in Truckee. She and some friends helped that night’s sponsor the Pour House by counting the people who came to dinner serving soup clearing tables and doing dishes.
Doing dishes? On my birthday I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do. On Jillian’s birthday I guess she has the same rule but she wants to do dishes. She said ‘Honestly I just like being a helping hand to anyone who needs it.’
ELEANORE:
Inspiration travels
Two years ago Jillian found inspiration in her Reed High School ‘Critics of Society’ class where she read the book ‘Life Is a Verb’ by Patti Digh. Jillian said ‘It changed my perspective about everything.’
Just as Jillian was inspired to do something special with her birthday we were inspired to find out more about Jillian. We had heard about her deeds from Penny Fink Stone Soup coordinator who was amazed at how Jillian had spent her birthday. We couldn’t wait to interview the birthday girl.
Inspiration traveled to our kitchen table where my family spent dinner talking about Jillian and the concept of giving. My mom asked us to think about what kind of giving we did. It turns out most of what we do revolves around learning and our own fun experiences.
My dad asked the question we knew had to be asked: Would we give away our own birthdays?
We cringed but realized quickly that inspiration is only a nice thought until it is put into action.
So inspired by Jillian we promised each other we would give away our birthdays next year. We brainstormed ideas like meeting friends at the humane society or asking friends to bring our age in dollars so we could give it to a charity of our choice. We discussed how our friend Mikaela Prestowitz 11 asks friends to donate in her name to the Friends of the Truckee Library. We’re not sure what we’ll do yet but we have a year to plan it.
After dinner and just before dessert we took Jillian’s idea even further — we imagined what it would be like if everybody in Truckee gave away his or her birthday in 2013. We pictured a blog where people could post what they did for their birthdays. If you think this is a good idea email us at eleanoreann@gmail.com.
We now have these wonderful ideas and opportunities thanks to Jillian who described herself this way: ‘It makes me feel good making other people feel good. It’s what I live off of.’
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