Kimberly Donofrio planned to throw a big birthday party for her 3-year-old grandson, Nathaniel Pickard, with the help of his parents on June 29. They invited neighbors with young children and everyone at Pickard’s day care, including the owners, teachers and kids, to the beach-themed party.
One person responded with an RSVP, but no one showed up.
Donofrio and Pickard’s parents were devastated that their hard work planning the party for him seemingly fell flat.
The family — Donofrio, Nathaniel, his sister and father — had only recently moved to Yelm from Florida in December and didn’t have any more relatives on the West Coast, although Pickard’s mother flew in from out of state to help plan the party.
That’s when Donofrio took to Facebook looking for help. She posted to the Yelm and Surrounding Areas group with hopes that just a couple of people with children would stop by to give Nathaniel some company on his special day.
“We thought people were just going to show up and not RSVP. I posted that if somebody was in the neighborhood, they could swing by, but it turned out to be so much more than that,” Donofrio said.
Within an hour, 25 kids arrived to celebrate Nathaniel’s birthday, with the first one showing up within just 15 minutes.
The Kona Ice truck made an appearance to add to the beach theme and serve shaved ice, as well, and City of Yelm Police deputies, known to Nathaniel as the “wee woos,” stopped by to visit the kids.
The children enjoyed pizza, cake, a swing set, a trampoline, coloring posters, cornhole, beach balls, a pool with toys and a sprinkler.
“He was so overwhelmed and just so excited. He was having fun initially playing in the water by himself, but when all these new friends showed up, it meant the world to him, his parents and me,” Donofrio said. “When we moved up here, I was looking for a community feel where my grandkids could go outside and play with other kids, and that was what attracted us to Yelm. This never would have happened in Florida.”
In addition to Pickard making new friends, his family also connected with new people in the community. Donofrio met a couple fellow grandmothers and joined them for a night at the Medicine Creek Winery the next night. Her son, a retired Marine, connected with fellow military veterans and active duty members. Some startled neighbors even stopped by to inspect the commotion that included several police vehicles.
Donofrio said the Yelm community made a strong first impression to her and the family, and she hopes that Pickard’s fourth birthday party will be even bigger and better.
“Even if he has 20 people come, I’m still going to invite the community of Yelm. We’ll just have to have it at a bigger venue because my yard won’t be able to hold all of the people,” she said. “We were so incredibly grateful for the support of Yelm. I’m so glad that I bought a house here.”
