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Blowout Birthday Parties for Homeless Children

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January 9, 2019
Photo by Cyndi Bemel

On the last Thursday of every month, homeless children in Los Angeles have the opportunity to attend something many kids take for granted: a birthday party. The parties are the brainchild of Mary “Mandie” Davis and Ari Kadin, founders of the nonprofit Worthy of Love. Since January 2013, the husband and wife have been throwing birthday parties for kids on Skid Row to make them feel celebrated and loved. 

What started in the family room at Union Rescue Mission with 15 or 20 children is now a huge birthday blowout for 270 children, ranging from newborns to 18-year-olds, on the Mission’s rooftop. 

“The parties are amazing,” Davis told the Journal. “Everyone gets to celebrate their birthday once a month.” The parties include a DJ, dancing, airbrush artists, a photo booth, face painting, glitter tattoos, party favors, cake and pizza. “It’s like a monthly bar mitzvah,” Kadin added.

“We see families that have the look of trauma on their faces,” Davis said. “And what we try to do is lighten that load. The kids have the best time. There’s joy and laughter; they can be a kid again. But it’s bittersweet because there are so many of them.”

“One of my dreams is to have Worthy of Love in baseball stadiums nationwide, and do this for the 2.5 million children who are experiencing homelessness in our nation.” — Mary Davis

A Jew by Choice, Davis, 37, is from a Southern evangelical background, while Kadin, 36, is the son of an Orthodox rabbi from Brooklyn. He is a business manager at a luxury living apartment complex, and Davis is the “mayor” at Kidville Brentwood, a preschool alternative, and in the MBA program for nonprofit management at American Jewish University. She will graduate in 2020. 

The two met in the summer of 2010 while volunteering on Skid Row. Helping homeless individuals has been Davis’ passion since she was a little girl. “I fell for Ari’s tender heart,” she said. “He has so much compassion.”

Their daughter, Zivah, was born in 2017. “She comes [to the parties] and dances and laughs and brings a lot of light to a dark world on Skid Row,” Davis said. “We named her Zivah, which means radiant. We didn’t know she’d be born during the solar eclipse, but it was bashert.”

Davis has big plans for Worthy of Love. “One of my dreams is to have Worthy of Love in baseball stadiums nationwide, and do this for the 2.5 million children who are experiencing homelessness in our nation,” she said. “Another is to start a social enterprise, where I can employ teenagers who are experiencing homelessness to do parties for kids all over Los Angeles.

The ultimate goal, Davis said, is for there to be no need for the parties because all children have homes.  

“One of those things that’s always been instilled in me is that as a Jewish person, it’s extremely important to see society as a whole,” Kadin said, “and make sure we are giving back and that those who are less fortunate are given a helping hand.”

“The Jewish community for me is all about love and peace and togetherness and family,” Davis added. “I feel like that joy and peace that I feel on Shabbat, where I don’t have to worry and stress, that is what I want for these kids.”


Read more about our 2019 mensches here.

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