Operation Warm Wishes throws birthday party for homeless kids in Orange County
"Happy Birthday to you," sang a group of children who often don't get a party. That's because many of them are homeless.
"So many of our kids live in motels and parents have to pay their hotel bill and pay for food and they get overlooked," Tyron Jackson said.
Jackson and his non-profit Operation Warm Wishes is hosting the birthday party at "Brushstrokes" in Tustin.
About 30 homeless children of all ages were invited to the painting studio to pick up a brush and have some fun.
It's a chance for 7-year-old Melanie to just be a kid.
"We're staying at a shelter and Operations Warm Wishes is helping me an my family out to get back on our feet," Melanie's dad said.
He didn't want to show his face on camera, but he told us how raising his daughter in a shelter is very difficult.
"I teach her never to give up, to keep going in life no matter how hard it is," he said.
It's those stories that gave 8-year-old Henry Sibert the idea for this birthday party.
After learning about homeless children, he teamed up with Operation Warm Wishes to donate his own birthday presents to these kids.
"It broke my heart so I thought I would go in and I would help the kids," Sibert said.
"A lot of times when you are homeless and you are in need you feel like you are alone, you feel like there is no-one there for you and I want to change that," Jackson added. "I want to let them know there are people who care for them."
Operation Warm Wishes hosts other events for homes children throughout the year, but this is the first time they're doing a birthday party and they hope to make it an annual event.
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