No friends came to Andover boy’s birthday. Now community has surprise for him, others
When Ashli Vela threw her son a fifth birthday party on Memorial Day weekend at Jumpy Jump Land in Andover, only two families showed up — Vela’s sister-in-law and best friend.
“He was looking around and saying, ‘Hey, where’s my friends? Why aren’t my friends coming?’ And I was like, ‘I’m so sorry, baby, I don’t know what’s going on,’” Vela said. “He asked me multiple times again, ‘why didn’t any show up?’”
One week later, her son will be surprised to walk into Jumpy Jump Land and see a community rallying together to celebrate both him and other kids who have experienced similar heartbreak on their birthdays.
The community birthday party came to be after Vela took to the Andover Chatter Facebook group to encourage adults to be better at RSVP’ing to party invites.
“As adults, can we PLEASE be better humans and respond to party invites?!” the Facebook post, which was accompanied by a photo of her son’s birthday cake, read. “You can’t tell me it takes more than 30 seconds to respond.
“It’s completely devastating as a mother to look into their child’s eyes and apologize to them when they’re asking why none of their friends showed up to their birthday party,” the Facebook post continued.
The post garnered more than a hundred comments and reactions from parents who had experienced similar situations.
“It just makes a mom’s heart feel happy when people are still like, ‘Hey, I know what you’re going through, I’m sorry you’re going through it,’” Vela told The Eagle.
The post also garnered the attention of Heather Sims, the director of Jumpy Jump Land bounce house, who immediately wanted to help Vela.
“I started reading through all of the comments, and other parents were talking about how this happened to them . . . (and) lot of parents were saying, ‘If you had a redo party, I’d bring my kid to be there for your kid,’” Sims said.
“I recognized from the picture that she had posted of the birthday cake that . . . it was at our Andover location, so I reached out to her and just said, ‘Hey, we’d love to do a redo party for you, so that all of these people could come and celebrate and make this party huge for your child.’”
Vela initially declined the offer, but that’s when a bigger idea came up.
“We wanted to make it for the whole community, that you know, it was about all of these kids, not just hers. And that really resonated with me. So I said, ‘Let’s absolutely do it.’ So that’s where it started,” Sims said.
So now, the party will not just be a re-do party for Vela’s son. It will be a community birthday party for any kid who has experienced the same feelings as Vela’s son did.
“We’re going to have this big birthday bash and celebrate all of the kids,” Sims said.
Jumpy Jump Land’s community birthday bash will be on Sunday, May 31 from 3 p.m. to 5:15 at Jumpy Jump Land, 1611 W. Ledgerwood Road in Andover.
The event also happens to land on the business’s last day of the season before they close through July 31 for the summer.
“We’re kind of ending our season with this huge party for the whole community,” Sims said.
The event will have food, refreshments and both outdoor and indoor activities for kids to do — including open jump for kids to enjoy Jumpy Jump Land’s inflatables.
The event has been a community effort, Sims said.
“There’s been a huge outpouring of support from the Andover community. I’ve had people calling me all week, offering to donate things and just wanting to help out any way they can,” Sims said.
“There is not a time where I do not look at Facebook, and somebody else’s offering (to help).”
The event is free for everyone. While everyone is encouraged to click “going” on the Facebook event, no one will be turned away, Sims said. She estimates the event will see more than 100 people.
Vela said she is keeping the party a surprise for her son. While the party is for kids who have experienced the same situation as Vela’s son has, she said that she’s excited to see some joy from adults, as well.
“It’s just something our community needs,” Vela said. “The adults in our community need more happiness, and so we just thought that this was the best way to do it, and frankly, it was a good way for parents to link together (and) make new friends.
“Each time that I’ve gotten onto Facebook, I’ve seen just a little bit more (about) what’s transpiring through all of this, and I was like, this is what community is about.”
