A 12-year-old girl from New Jersey donated all of her birthday money to feed health care workers such as nurses and first responders on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.
Brianna Geer, of Garfield, took the money her parents would have spent on a party or gifts and put it towards the grassroots group Strangers Helping Strangers.
This group purchases meals for health care workers in hospitals and nursing homes and delivers groceries to homebound city residents, North Jersey.com reported.
“We would have thrown a party, so she asked that the money that would have been spent on the party we weren’t having could be used to help that organization,” Amanda, Brianna’s mother, said. “We posted the fundraiser on Facebook asking for donations instead of gifts.”
The fundraiser generated around $300, which Brianna’s parents matched. So Brianna and her family wound up donating $600 and two vans’ filled with groceries in honor of Brianna’s birthday.
Brianna enjoyed a drive-by parade and received a proclamation in her name from the city in recognition of her efforts.
But that was just the beginning of Brianna’s charitable efforts.
She, along with her mother, donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to medical workers at Valley Hospital on Monday evening. Brianna also used her money to buy playing cards and puzzle books for the Paramus Veterans Memorial Home.
Other people who have had birthdays that fall during the pandemic also looked for ways to donate their gifts to charitable causes.
A Milwaukee, Wisconsin, attorney created a GoFundMe account on his birthday to raise money for struggling restaurants that were shut down during the coronavirus crisis.
His fundraiser generated more than $30,000.
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