The Property Manager plays an important role in addressing the needs of Sun City Residents, supporting the boards, ensuring efficient operations, and planning for the future. Residents are familiar with those activities. But do you know the staff is making a difference in our surrounding community also? First Service Residential took on the challenge of bringing a glimmer of fun in the form of “Party in a Bag” to help a child celebrate their birthday.
(L to R) Michael McLaughlin, Ally Nebel, Kathy O’Toole, Bob Laird, Debby Seger, Jennifer Klages prepare birthday bags. (Photo provided)
Deanna Loughran, Sun City Executive Director said, “As a parent, it broke my heart knowing that some kids would not be able to celebrate their birthday. I remember all the fun celebrations my kids had. One of the last ones I had for one of my daughters, was a Hawaiian-themed one.”
Everyone loves to celebrate their special day. The “Party in a Bag” project helps celebrate birthdays a little easier for families who are struggling.
Debby Seger, Sun City HR Manager, said “An organization, Humanitarian Service Project challenged us to be creative, inspire others, and impact our community with a project called ‘Party In A Bag.’ The bag contained party supplies to help kids celebrate their birthdays with other children. All the bags contained a cake mix, frosting, candles, balloons, plates and napkins, and streamers.”
Birthday parties are more than fun; they’re important. Unfortunately, there are some families barely scraping by and cannot afford to do anything special for their kids’ birthdays. Research has shown that not celebrating important milestones can have a negative impact on a child’s well-being.
Loughran said, “The First Residential Services of East region Illinois; Sun City, Talamore, and Lake Barrington Shores joined together and we came on like blockbusters. We added party favors, little trinkets and also had some themed party bags, like Elmo or Little Mermaid. Our tables were full of donations.”
There are more than 37,500 children under 18 years old in Kane and DuPage Counties who are living at or below the poverty level.
Seger said, “Our goal was to assemble 50 bags. I felt that this was something we could do: birthday bags, gift bags filled with the basic items that make up a birthday celebration. We are happy to say we exceeded that goal at 75 bags.”
Loughran said, “It was a great team-building exercise also. We had 45 members of the staff participate at all locations. It was fun for all of us.”
Do they have any other projects planned?
Loughran said, “Our next project is to collect school supplies for children for the upcoming school year.”
On June 27, the bags were assembled and ready for a child to have a wonderful birthday memory that would last a lifetime and give those families a day to celebrate.
