Tacoma teen creates charity to throw birthday parties for kids

PUYALLUP - This Christmas season, the spirit of giving is alive and well in Puyallup, where a young man devotes his time, energy and heart to others.

Spencer Broden, a high school senior in Tacoma, gave us a tour of room filled with toys at the Puyallup Food Bank as he explained his unique vision for needy families.

He wants to give free birthday parties to their children, regardless of their financial ability.

Last year, Spencer created a charity for kids, called "Time 2 Party!"

It provides free birthday parties to children whose families can't afford it. The kids pick a location, invite friends, even choose the flavor of the cake frosting, and the charity does all the rest.

It pays for the facility, the pizza, the birthday cake, party favors, party ware and pictures.

Spencer works with local food banks to select party recipients. Then he organizes fundraising events to pay for the parties. He says he donates hundreds of hours of his time to make it all work.

He does this while while maintaining straight A’s and swimming competitively.

He says seeing the looks on kids’ faces makes it all worth it.

"They get really excited usually,” said Spencer. “I've had a couple of emails that have really touched me and it really means a lot to hear how much this means to people."

If you’d like to donate to Spencer’s organization, you can do that through the Puyallup Food Bank.

Families who would like to apply for a free birthday party for a child, can e-mail an application to time2party@hotmail.com. You’re asked to write a brief, 250-word essay on why you’d like to throw your child a birthday party.