Charlie Manning, 6, received presents and cards from as far away as Dublin, Ireland and Western Australia for her birthday, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Ray Manning
August 13, 2020 - 2:14 PM
People from all over the world worked to make a Kamloops girl’s birthday a little brighter today.
Charlie Manning has just turned six years old, and she spent the morning, Aug. 13, opening up letters and gifts from well-wishers across the globe.
“It’s really humbling because in times like this you don’t think that people would go that far out of their way,” Charlie’s grandfather, Ray Manning says. “All these strangers reached out to help a little girl and make her birthday special.”
Charlie, an only child, lives full time with her grandparents and normally has a birthday party with classmates followed by a trip down to Idaho to see family. The family couldn’t reunite due to COVID-19, so Charlie’s American aunt decided to reach out to the global community to help her celebrate.
“She reached out to some groups on Facebook and asked people to send Charlie a birthday wish. We weren’t expecting cards or parcels or anything else like that. We thought we’d get some Facebook happy birthdays and that would be it… today's count for cards was 183 from around the world, and 15 parcels.”
The cards and gifts sat on a table for days before Charlie's birthday.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK / Ray Manning
The cards poured in from places like Western Australia and Dublin, Ireland, while some came from as close as Clearwater. Some of Charlie's favourite gifts included Disney princess dolls, sunglasses, a backpack and plenty of sidewalk chalk.
“There was a lady from Montreal… she got a hold of Sweet Spot cupcakes and she ordered a dozen cupcakes for Charlie that were delivered today,” Ray says.
Ray says the family was overwhelmed by the response, but Charlie waited patiently to open her ever-growing pile of cards and presents. They plan to spend the rest of the day playing with her new toys and enjoying a birthday meal.
"I just want to thank everybody out there that took the time to send her a present no matter where they were in the world,” Ray says.
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