Birthday Boxes for Good,<\/a> she is helping other parents make sure their children have something to celebrate.<\/p>\nEach birthday box costs about $35 to put together and is funded through donations, community partners and, when necessary, Yearty\u2019s own pocket.<\/p>\n
Before Yearty became known to families as the \u201cBirthday Box Lady,\u201d she was a mother struggling financially and trying to provide for her own son.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I had my firstborn child in 2017, I lived in Central Florida and had to move back home because of finances,\u201d Yearty said. \u201cChristmas came around and I could not get him anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her parents stepped in to help that Christmas, but Yearty said she never forgot how it felt.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me as a parent, I\u2019m like, this is my first born baby. I\u2019m supposed to be able to celebrate him but I can\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cThe emotions are like guilt, you feel anger, you feel shame.\u201d<\/p>\n
Years later, Yearty joined a Facebook group for parents and began seeing requests from families who needed help. It reminded her of an idea she had during her own difficult time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a part of a parent group on Facebook, and that\u2019s where I started seeing the request for help,\u201d Yearty said. \u201cAnd then I remembered in 2017 the idea I had. It\u2019s time to focus. I really want this to happen. And years later, here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Birthday Boxes for Good creates curated birthday boxes for children and teenagers whose families are experiencing financial hardship.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an entire birthday party in the box,\u201d Yearty said.<\/p>\n
The boxes include baking supplies, decorations and a gift, giving families what they need to put together a birthday celebration.<\/p>\n
For Tiffany Cordero, a mother of nine with two birthdays this month, the boxes provide some much-needed help.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been trying to make sure each one has a good birthday,\u201d Cordero said. \u201cAnd normally the last two, which is in December, \u2018cause it\u2019s got Christmas, it gets very, very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordero said the financial pressure can become overwhelming.<\/p>\n
\u201cI be trying not to cry, because it be overwhelming,\u201d she said. \u201cSo it\u2019s very cool that I got introduced to her, because at least I know each birthday they will have something. Even if it doesn\u2019t come from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Yearty, helping parents like Cordero is personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to be the person I needed when I was going through hard times and having to choose between paying a bill or getting a toy for my kid,\u201d Yearty said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m able to give to parents, I see a reflection of myself in them because I feel like I become the person I needed when I was in their shoes,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Birthday Boxes for Good currently serves families across Miami-Dade County through referrals from nonprofits, shelters and foster organizations.<\/p>\n
The organization is accepting donations, including toys, birthday supplies and boxes. It is also looking for volunteers, whom Yearty calls the \u201cCelebration Crew.\u201d Students can earn volunteer hours by helping.<\/p>\n
Click here <\/a>for information on how to get involved or to request a birthday box. <\/p>\nCopyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 Birthdays are supposed to be about cake, candles and celebration. But for families struggling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-406131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}