Beverly's Birthdays celebrates 1,000th party for low-income families at Penn Hills event

A long-necked llama bobbed its freckled snout above a huddle of baby goats, spurring squeals of delight from several children offering up handfuls of oat pellets and milk from bottles.

Toddlers to preteens hailing from Verona and Penn Hills played with balloons twisted into creatures and swords, designed their own animal-shaped hats at a crafts station and struck funny poses for photos using birthday-themed props.

Sporting a pink cowboy hat, with a matching bandana tied loosely around her neck, adult volunteer face-painter Liz Holmes beamed alongside a young boy who smiled wide when he saw his reflection mimicking a happy clown.

“I did the face-painting on a whim, and it’s just been fantastic,” said Holmes of Turtle Creek, gesturing to the boy who loved the look of his bright-red nose. “You can just see his face, he lights up just by me making him a clown.”

The barnyard-themed bash organized by Beverly’s Birthdays drew about 100 children and their families in celebration of youngsters who share a birthday during the fall season to Lincoln Park Family Center on Ridgeview Avenue at Chadwick Street in Penn Hills earlier this month.

“It was a rip-roarin’, yee-haw time,” said Beverly’s Birthdays CEO Megs Yunn, referencing the event’s tagline, “Neigh, oink, moo, we are celebrating you!”

The event was the first that Holmes and many low-income families there had attended — but it marked the 1,000th birthday celebration for children in need organized by the nonprofit Beverly’s Birthdays. The charity’s roots date to 2011, when founder Yunn began planning parties for homeless children out of her own home’s garage.

“It’s a major milestone as we move into our 10th year of the organization,” Yunn said. “There’s usually some type of financial circumstance or personal crisis, and we can step in and help them ensure that no child is forgotten about on their birthday.”

Yunn is a happy to report that the threat of covid-19 did not stop the nonprofit from operating and even growing, though some events did go virtual or get scaled back during the pandemic-spurred lockdowns of spring and summer 2020.

“I’m really proud of the fact that our team never shut our doors once during the pandemic. The need grew, so the parties may not have always happened in person, but the birthdays were never canceled,” Yunn said. “We had virtual in the beginning, and then from June of 2020 on we’ve been outside celebrating ever since. We learned how to be everything curbside, and I can do celebrations in all inclement weather. Rain, sleet, snow, Pittsburgh weather — we’re here to celebrate because the families come out because they have needs.”

The North Huntingdon-based nonprofit now has grown to an annual budget of about $1.3 million, including about $660,000 worth of in-kind donations, Internal Revenue Service records show. Previously all-volunteer, the nonprofit added Yunn as the first paid staffer several years ago and now has eight full-time workers and three part-timers, plus hundreds of volunteers.

“When I retired from work I decided I was doing a year of give-back, and this organization touched my heart,” said volunteer Denise Vay, who has been baking treats such as cupcakes and sugar cookies for Beverly’s Birthday events. “I have one daughter and she’s 27, so you miss the little birthday smiles, and it’s great to see this once or twice a month when you volunteer at the parties.”

The nonprofit now partners with 93 social service agencies, 100 schools with high populations of low-income students and serves as a community provider for some services via the Allegheny County Department of Human Services. Yunn estimates that over nearly a decade, the nonprofit has helped provide events and donated gifts and other items that benefited more than 30,000 children and families across six programs, including events focused on one child at a time, group and school-based events and to-go birthday party kit distributions. The organization has drawn support from government grantors as well as corporate donors.

In addition to the pop-up petting zoo in Lincoln Park’s parking lot, the 1,000th birthday bash featured a taco bar catered by Moe’s Southwest Grill and the chance for children to pick out new outfits off the “Birthday Boutique” truck sponsored the Jim Shorkey car dealership.

“Just seeing the kids smile when they get the new clothes and just celebrating their birthdays and giving them something new to wear from the boutique (truck) is pretty cool,” said Jordan Craig, who’s been volunteering on and off for eight years and now works as employee for the nonprofit.

Typically, each child being celebrated gets to hop on the truck and get three new outfits, a pair of pajamas, socks and underwear.

“Clothing scarcity is a real thing for families who are struggling financially,” Yunn said. “Kiddos deserve to have clothing that makes them look good and feel good. We ensure that on their birthday, the most special day, they know that they matter and they have a rockin’ outfit.”