News and Events : News 03-04

Press Release February 25, 2004

NMH Student Gives Happy Birthdays to Needy Kids 

NORTHFIELD , Mass. --Will Perez knows what it’s like to have nothing—so he’s making sure needy kids have something they can treasure: a birthday party and presents all their own. He’s named his mission Operation Happy Birthday. 

Now a senior at Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH), Perez grew up in a family that struggled financially and was temporarily homeless. For his 15th birthday, he asked his mother to take him out so he could find a job to help her.

Perez is on full scholarship at NMH, which he entered via the Upward Bound program. He, in turn, has given back wholeheartedly. In May 2003 he won the Anne Waline Outreach Prize, which includes a $500 award, for his volunteer work on more than a dozen service projects.

Perez immediately earmarked the money for Operation Happy Birthday, a project he conceived after hearing a song by rapper Biggie Smallz. In it, Smallz describes his unhappy life and how birthdays are the worst days. “That’s when it hit me,” says Perez. “I’m like, ‘All right, we can work on this.’”

Working closely with NMH outreach director Annette Mackin Wadleigh, Perez located needy families by contacting directors of area homeless shelters. Perez formed a committee of 14 NMH students to help shepherd Operation Happy Birthday. They held their first party at the Greenfield Family Inn, a homeless shelter in Greenfield , Massachusetts , on January 28.

The party honored seven children, ages two to 15, from five families. Each child received a “wish list” gift—ranging from tub toys to gift certificates—and a book. The party began with a “Happy Birthday” serenade by NMH’s a cappella group, followed by cake, gift-opening, and a mass game of Twister. NMH students donated party supplies and a faculty member baked the cake.

“It was absolutely amazing,” says Perez. “I must have heard fifty thousand thank you’s in the hour and a half we were there. The parents were crying a lot. I left feeling so sad because I knew it would probably be the last time I’d see those kids. But I was also happy because they were so happy.”

Perez’s goal is to hold one birthday party every month for the rest of the school year. He is fundraising toward the $1,600 cost of four more parties (the spending range per child is $50) and seeking donated items. He held a birthday celebration for nine kids on February 25 at the Orange Family Inn, and Operation Happy Birthday’s next party will be at NELCWIT, a battered women’s shelter in Greenfield .

Perez will graduate from NMH in June, but he wants Operation Happy Birthday to continue at the school—so he’s designated a student cochair to take it over next year. He’ll also bring the concept with him to college.

“I want to eventually make Operation Happy Birthday available to kids all around the world. It will be awesome.”

Northfield Mount Hermon School is an independent, coeducational college preparatory school in western Massachusetts . NMH enrolls up to 900 boarding and 200 day students in grades 9 to 12 and postgraduate, and is known for its diverse and talented students, innovative academic programs, tradition of putting values into action, and innumerable opportunities for growth.

Contact: Mary Seymour, 413-498-3247

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