Boy donates birthday presents to local family

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/12/2018 (2472 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

All that Harlen Bridges wanted for his birthday was to make other children happy.

And so, with the help of his parents and the local United Way, the 10-year-old Brandon boy was able to fulfil his wish.

“I wanted people to have a good Christmas like we do,” said Harlen.

Although his birthday was in November, Harlen hosted a party earlier this month and asked his guests — members of his Atom A1 hockey team — to bring unwrapped gifts to give to a single dad and his two daughters, 13 and 17.

“My coach said that he thought it was really nice of us,” Harlen said.

Harlen got the idea from his brother, Logan, who did the same thing last year for his 11th birthday.

“I get amazing Christmas presents by my parents every year, and I wanted them to have the same thing as we have every year,” explained Logan, who last year donated his birthday presents to a single mom and her three children.

“The whole thing, technically, is to inspire other (kids) to do the same thing as we did,” said Logan, who also plays hockey.

And it seems to be working.

Little brother, Bowe, 6, emphatically nodded his head when asked if he wants to do the same as his big brothers.

“I had often wanted to do something at Christmas,” explained Janelle Bridges, the boys’ mom, “and I just never knew what.”

Bridges is a sales associate with Re/Max Valleyview Realty. Re/Max sponsors a family through the United Way every year. Last year, with Logan’s enthusiastic approval, Bridges offered to provide Christmas gifts to the family.

Logan gave away 10 presents to the family, three presents for each of the children and one for the mom.

For Harlen’s party, Bridges said they gave the invited kids ideas for gifts to give to the family and asked for unwrapped presents so they could divide them properly.

She and the boys were able to take part in delivering the gifts to the family last Monday.

Bridges added the dozen kids who attended Harlen’s party also left with a good feeling about what they had accomplished.

In fact, she said, many of them expressed a desire to follow Harlen’s example and help other families in need.

“Many of them said it was the best party they had ever been to.”

Donnelly said in an email she was happy to hear from Bridges.

“When I received the call from Janelle, Harlen’s mom, I couldn’t help but smile,” she wrote. “I had just finished delivering Christmas trees to families from our annual holiday tree auction the weekend before, and our (Child and Family Services) representative who comes with us to deliver the trees had mentioned a family that was missed for the auction.

As fate would have it, she wrote, Bridges contacted her a few days later, “and I knew which two families needed to connect.

“I can honestly say it’s a wonderful feeling knowing that the true meaning of the holiday spirit is carried forward by a young boy and his big brother,” Donnelly wrote. “I hope more people are as moved as I was with this story of giving and paying forward.

“We truly are a compassionate and caring community, and when we forget to be, our kids are there to remind us.”

So now, with Christmas just around the corner, is Harlen going to donate all of those presents to a needy family as well?

“Ummm, probably not,” he smiled.

» brobertson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @BudRobertson4