Eric Fills First Twelve Birthday Bags for Minnesota Women of Today Project

Eric Jorgensen saw his birthday not just as a time to receive gifts, but as a time to give them as well. Every year on his birthday, Eric, who turned 6 on April 13, receives money from his godmother to use to do something nice for people that are not as fortunate as he.

Eric's mother, Ellen Jorgensen, a member of the Lakeville Women of Today, suggested he use the money to benefit this year's Minnesota Women of Today statewide charity, Cheerful Givers. Cheerful Givers is a nonprofit organization that collects and distributes gifts bags to children who would otherwise not receive anything on their birthdays.

Eric, who will start first grade at Lakeview Elementary School in the fall, started with the $50 he received to make a donation. But, he went beyond that. "He saw how much fun it was to share with others. When we decided to buy stuffed animals, Eric said, “Mom, I'll use my dollars" said Ellen Jorgensen.

When his project was finished, Eric used the cash from his godmother, as well as his own money and some from his mother, to make 12 bags that cost about $10 a piece to assemble. He said he felt bad when he thought about those children who didn¹t receive anything for their birthdays.

"We talked about how there are kids that get no presents," said Ellen Jorgensen. "He couldn't believe it. He wanted to help them." Eric spent about three weeks ordering presents, waiting for them to arrive and assembling the gift bags, which he said he enjoyed doing. "It was fun," he said, adding that he would like to do it again. "I went through 203 pages of the catalog to pick out the presents." Included in Eric's gift bags were crayons, pencils, candy, stuffed animals and pens.

The 12 bags Eric donated were the first to come into the Lakeville chapter of the Women of Today. They also were the first of what Kim Bergeron, Lakeville Women of Today president and statewide Cheerful Givers project chair, said she hopes will total more than 2,000 bags throughout Minnesota.
That would equal the number of Women of Today members in the state. Bergeron is spearheading the project, which started with a bid to adopt the charity as the organization¹s statewide project in April. In her proposal presentation, Bergeron had a mock birthday party for the judges to demonstrate the need for Cheerful Givers and how the state's Women of Today could contribute.

"We baked cupcakes, had party hats and gave out gift bags. In some, there were surprises and some were empty," Bergeron said. "It represented the emptiness children feel when they don't get any gifts on their birthday." Bergeron said she got her own surprise when Eric and his mother brought the birthday bags to one of the group¹s meetings.

"Ellen brought them in and I said, Oh my gosh!" Bergeron said. "It makes you want to cry that a child would understand how important this is. Not to mention the amount of money and the time he spent putting this together." Both Ellen Jorgensen and Bergeron agreed that Eric taught important lessons to the Lakeville Women of Today members.

"I thought it was great to see his enthusiasm for it," said Ellen Jorgensen. "Hopefully he'll always have that spirit of giving." "He showed it doesn¹t matter how old you are or how much you money you have. Donating can come in all shapes and sizes," Bergeron said. "As a child, he understood the implications of not having something on your birthday. He's done such a great job of leading by example of how we can touch others' lives."

Cheerful Givers headquarters is at 1287 Berry Ridge Road in Eagan and can be contacted at 651-226-8738. Kim Bergeron and the Lakeville Women of Today can be reached at 952-898-5288. Cheerful Givers¹ donation guidelines include: one gift bag, 10 small items and one book or stuffed animal. No cake or frosting is accepted and all gifts must be non-violent and gender neutral. Children receiving the bags are ages 3 through 12.

This story was reprinted courtesy of Sun Newspapers.