Willie Conaghan, left, and Reid Kellam with their donated toys.

Reid Kellam and Willie Conaghan, are best friends since kindergarten who live in Bethesda, Maryland. They're also athletes. Reid is a super hitter and intends to make it to the major leagues; Willie is fast and tenacious on any playing field. Both like to ski and play roller-blade hockey.

So when they decided to celebrate their 8th birthdays with a joint birthday bash, they quickly decided on a sports theme. They picked a Saturday in November, and invited nearly 50 boys to play basketball, soccer and baseball at a neighborhood park. And with Christmas approaching, the boys were open to the idea, floated by their parents, that they use their party to celebrate the spirit of giving.

Reid and Willie decided to donate presents from their party to the Baptist Home for Children and Families, home to more than 100 children. They asked their guests to bring gifts of sports equipment, and their friends came through. On November 17, 1999 the two boys delivered five heaping boxes of hockey sticks, baseballs and bats, gloves, balls and more to the Home. "I know they don't have many presents over there, so I thought it would be a good idea," said Reid.

Willie was also enthusiastic: "I just knew they would have fun with them."

Organizing a birthday give-away party is something that can be done in any community, with children of any age. Birthday boys and girls often receive far more gifts than they can ever use. Most of us have cleaned our child's toy shelves and found presents that were never even opened!

Planning a give-away provides a great opportunity to talk with your child about the importance of sharing and helping others. If the birthday children are old enough, give them the important job of deciding which charitable organization will receive the gifts, and what the theme should be.

One key to a successful give-away is to let the parents of the invited children know what is happening. Make sure the theme for the donated gifts appears on the party invitation. Check with the receiving charity about whether they prefer the donations to be wrapped or unwrapped (many prefer the latter) and put that on the invitation too.

And, it's all right if the birthday child keeps a present or two for themselves.