“I know that children using their birthday parties to generate donations is something that’s happening all the time,” says Seema Pothini of Savage, Minnesota, “but what I think is different about this story is that Shrey is seeing, at a very early age, the power of using his voice to help others.” What Pothini is referring to is her son’s preference for a very particular type of birthday celebration. For the past two years instead of receiving gifts, Shrey Pothini has asked for new bath towels, with the intent to give them to Avenues for Homeless Youth, a youth homeless shelter in north Minneapolis.
After the hometown venue he had used for his previous parties changed from free usage to fee-based, Shrey got on the phone and spoke with a representative from IGM Gymnastics in Burnsville, who agreed to sponsor his party/donation drive so that he could invite all of the students in his class. Because of IGM’s generosity (“a donation,” Pothini says, “that could have otherwise cost hundreds of dollars”), Shrey was inspired to ask other local businesses for help. He turned to Klein Bank because he saw that it has great outreach for children and spoke with the manager of the branch close to home. Says his mother, “so taken by Shrey’s passion over the phone, the manager agreed to help and is recruiting the three branches where he works—Savage, Burnsville, and Apple Valley—to encourage their customers to bring in new towels or body wash that will be donated to the shelter.”
Shrey is excited about the possibility of supplying the shelter with a year’s worth of these items (the shelter also uses the donations to give to youths who move out on their own and into supportive housing). The folks at Avenues have come to rely on Shrey’s annual drive for support and to cut costs from their operating expenses. “I am fortunate enough to serve on the board for the organization,” says Pothini, “and Shrey has been to the shelter many times, which has solidified his desire to help in the small way he can.”
The hope is that at a time when homelessness among youth is on the rise and when non-profits are needing more assistance, other adults and children will feel empowered to help in new ways. “Getting businesses like IGM involved is allowing Shrey to help others on a greater scale than we could do on our own,” says Pothini. “Although my husband and I are proud of what we see in our son, we have allowed him to take the lead in all of his efforts and [then] help in the ways that we can. Truly, this is his drive, and his innocence and ability to think big has led him to this much success at such an early age.”
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