Local women help kids give back

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• Historic Fort York David Spittal courtesy murmur.com
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A couple of midtown mothers have come up with an ingenious idea to help teach kids the value of philanthropy and the importance of making a real difference in society.

Local moms Debbie Zinman and Alison Smith are the founders of ECHOage, an organization that allows children to dedicate some of the money that would normally be spent on their birthday gifts to various charities. The duo noticed a niche for the idea at various kids' birthday parties.

"You look at the time and energy parents spend buying gifts for kids' birthday parties, and all the packaging that goes along with toys and gifts," Zinman said. "Then, at the parties, we noticed the children would focus more on each other than on the gifts they were getting."

Zinman and Smith discussed the matter one day and came up with a solution. Instead of inundating children with gifts, they decided it would be better for all if some of the money spent on presents the birthday boy or girl might not want or need went toward bettering life for all.

"We just thought 'wouldn't it be great if the children could get one gift, but it was something they would have chosen themselves?'" Zinman said. "Then, the rest of the money could go to a cause of the child's choosing."

The moms started up a website (www.echoage.com) to make their concept a reality. Through the website, parents can send out e-mail invitations to their children's birthday parties and party guests can make secure online donations. The money donated is then split between the child and the charity selected by the child.

"The children are fundraising for charity, but they're also fundraising for themselves in a way," Zinman said. "Parents have contacted us saying their child is very proud of what they've done, plus they get a gift they really like."

Children are also able to learn the value of giving, and by reducing the number of individual gifts given, ECHOage helps reduce waste through a reduction in wrapping and packaging.

ECHOage has been rolled out in Canada and the United States, with Canadian families able to choose between Second Harvest, Evergreen, Camp Oochigeas and Free the Children as their charity of choice.

"It was important to us to make sure the causes are always child-focused," Zinman said.

While the ECHOage founders designed the concept to go along with parties for what Zinman called "that real birthday party age" - children aged four through six - it has been popular among children of all ages.

"We've had people register their child for their first birthday and it goes all the way up to 18," she said.

Over 1,000 parties have been registered with ECHOage and tens of thousands of dollars have been raised for charity. Second Harvest has received $10,300 in donations.

"Debbie and Alison came to us with the research and (Second Harvest Executive Director Zoe Cormack Jones) said 'how can we lose?'" said Second Harvest spokesperson Debra Hubner. "It was a win-win and it's worked out quite well for us."