A special birthday party was held for children living with sickle cell disease.
“Really what people don’t know is that you don’t know if someone has sickle cell or sickle cell trait just by looking at them,” said Danielle Shorter, whose 8-year-old daughter Olivia was born with the disease.
Olivia wanted to have a birthday party with a purpose: Raising awareness about sickle cell disease and helping others living with it just like her.
“It started because Olivia just wanted to see if there are other kids like her in the neighborhood. She wanted to throw a party for kids just like her, and that was her birthday wish last year,” Danielle said. “So this year, once you do it once, you might as well do it again!”
The party had all the regular trappings, including face painting, a bouncy house and games, plus blood donation stations. Sickle cell patients manage their disease through blood transfusions, so donations are key.
“I said I wanted a sickle cell awareness party for people who have blood they want to donate so we can all be healthy,” Olivia said.
Olivia was pleasantly surprised to have such a great turnout. Mom Danielle said the party and the community’s support meant a lot to the family.
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