Giving takes the cake

Some choose a ballroom, with flowers and a cake. Others may opt for an “Over the Hill”-themed affair.

But Laura Pinkham preferred to spend her 50th birthday with about 50 of her closest friends and family — and bags and bags of toiletries.

Pinkham opted to use her birthday as an opportunity to assist charity Laura’s House. The organization — not Pinkham’s namesake, just a pleasant coincidence — offers shelter and counseling to women and children victims of domestic violence.

“I wanted to hold this event as part of my lifelong commitment to community service, and maybe help to encourage others to participate or organize other community service events,” Pinkham said.

“I’m hoping to inspire other women to come up with alternate ways to celebrate their birthdays.”

She and her friends and family shared brunch together, then began putting toiletries in dozens of bags, some donated from a friend who works for Clinique.

The group also wrote inspirational notes for the shelter’s clients.

A smaller group later went to the Laura’s House shelter in South Orange County to deliver the bags and plant flowers at the house.

“Laura’s House provides people with resources and tools to help them grow into who they want to be,” Pinkham said.

Pinkham hopes her activity will draw attention to what she calls a “phenomenal organization,” especially at a time when donations and volunteer interest are waning and negative behaviors are on the increase.

“It’s just such a tough time right now,” Pinkham said. “But I do hope for a better world. I believe in the human spirit, and I do believe it takes a village.”

After a first career in sales and marketing, Pinkham — an “off-the-chart extrovert” — studied social work; today, she is a career counselor at an art college, and tries to be a model for her children, who often have to tell her to go to bed when they see her on Facebook late at night.

“I’m very, very blessed,” she said. “I’ve grown so much, and I want to give back. We’re all going, going, going, nonstop; we need to take time to reflect on what we have.”

To choose their own project, Pinkham encourages people to look inside to see what inspires them — what they’ve been given and what they want to give back. From there, they can evaluate available opportunities through local community centers or religious institutions.

To learn about other community service projects, visit the Volunteer Center of Orange County’s website at volunteercenter.org.

CANDICE BAKER can be reached at (714) 966-4631 or at [email protected].