x
Breaking News
More () »

Teen’s non-profit to make special birthday boxes for foster children goes national

Lizzie Allison was 15 years old when we first featured her non-profit, Team Celebrate, in 2017.

Lizzie Allison was 15 years old when ABC10 first featured her non-profit, Team Celebrate, in 2017.

Allison, now 17, has teamed up with an organization called Ticket to Dream Foundation to help give other children a chance to make birthday boxes all around the nation.

"We were on Scholastic magazine out of the blue and said we want you to be the change maker of the month," Allison said. "They wrote an article about us and so because of that we got people saying we wanna make boxes!"

Inside each birthday box is a birthday card with a special positive message for the birthday boy or girl and supplies for a birthday party.

If a child is interested in packing a box, they can head to Team Celebrate's website where they can find information on how to fundraise before receiving a gift card and box.

Allison started Team Celebrate because she was always interested in volunteering, but was told she was too young or had to be 18.

"When I was 8 years old I was in the musical Annie and I played an orphan and it opened my eyes to the idea of foster kids and I wanted to help but there were no opportunities where a kid could help and so I wanted to fix that," Allison said. "Our goal is to serve foster kids but it's also to empower youth to become leaders, entrepreneurs, and action takers. We have two goals and we accomplish them at the same time."

In 2017, Allison and her team made 500 birthday boxes to give to foster children. They're hoping to serve thousands of children since kids from all over the nation can now make birthday boxes through them.

"Our goal is to have at least one foster kid celebrated in all 50 states," Allison said. "That's our goal we want volunteers all over the US."

Continue the conversation with Ananda on Facebook.

Before You Leave, Check This Out