This 2″ iron-on embroidered patch is part of our patch program®. Patch image shows a watermark. Your patches will not have a watermark.

Here are some ideas for earning this patch:

Choose a birthday related service project.

Ask around in your community. Your local food pantries, shelters, hospitals, school nurses are a good place to start. Find out if programs exist or find out if you can start a new program (opportunity for a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award idea here!) There are many national and international birthday programs. Join in with one of them or use some of their ideas to kick off your own program.

Make Birthday Cards and Banners
Sending birthday messages to sick or lonely people can really brighten their day. Spend a meeting making cards, invite friends and family to join you or even have a community event.

Donate Birthdays in a Box
Families in crisis cannot always provide the basics needed for giving their child a happy birthday. Put together boxes of cake mix, frosting and candles to donate to shelters or food pantries. You can add other items like a small gift or paper goods. Do a drive outside you local supermarket or place donation boxes around the neighborhood. The Confetti Foundation has a wish list for supplies needed to make their birthday boxes for hospitalized children.

Host a Birthday Party
Find someone in your community with a birthday this month. It could be special needs child, a child who is new to the neighborhood, a senior turning 100 years old, a child in a shelter or anyone who would normally not be having a big celebration. Throw a special party they will always remember. You could also pledge to throw monthly parties at your local VA hospital or assisted living and include everyone who has a birthday that month. Check with the Birthday Party Project. They throw parties for homeless children and there are opportunities to join with them.

Set a Goal.

Challenge yourself
Set a troop goal or individual goals and make a contract to reach it.

Iron on! 2″ Embroidered Patch. Patch image shows a watermark. Your patches will not have a watermark.

Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, an African American author, editor, publisher, and historian, established Negro History Week from February 7th – 13th in 1926. The focus around that week were the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass and he wanted to expand that focus to the contributions of the history and contributions of the entire race. By the late 1960’s many college campuses were celebrating black history and had expanded it. In 1970 Kent State University held the first Black History Month celebration. In 1976 President Gerald Ford signed a proclamation for the first national Black History Month recognition encouraging Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans”. Congress passed a law designating February as National Black History Month in 1986.