Around Annapolis: Birthday kits brighten life for needy children

Not all kids understand the declining stock market or what a furlough really means, but one thing they do understand is birthday parties.

That's the concept behind a new kid-powered initiative of the Friends Foundation Too, an offshoot of an Annapolis-based philanthropic group.

For some children, a yearly birthday party with all the trimmings is an expected routine. But with the national economic slide hitting home, more parents are in cutback mode. When families can't afford to put a roof over their heads or are struggling just to buy groceries, birthday parties become no-can-do affairs.

The kids of Friends...