Contact: Kim Straka, HYPE Communications
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(Madison, WI) Learning Express Toys located in West Towne Mall in Madison, WI has created a unique way to teach children the valuable lesson about giving back at an early age. Their Birthday Box program is a child’s birthday gift registry where 10% of the proceeds can be designated to nonprofit in their own name.
“As a mother, I want my own children to understand the importance of giving back,” says Catherine Tye, Owner of Learning Express Toys in Madison. “We are letting the child be part of the process and designating a nonprofit that matters to them during a very exciting celebration of their own. This seems to really hits home with the children and makes them very proud to be able to do this,” adds Tye.
The store has partnered with three, local nonprofits that are close to many area children’s hearts – the Dane County Humane Society, Henry Vilas Zoo and the Madison Children’s Museum. These three nonprofits are featured in the store’s Birthday Box materials as options to donate to. However, a child can choose any nonprofit organization as the recipient of their Birthday Box donation.
Learning Express’s Birthday Box is a fun way to let a child pick out gifts they would like for their own birthday. They go to the store and actually place the items they would like in a large box. The child or family can then decide if they would like to designate a nonprofit to receive 10% of the total purchases made from the Birthday, or allow family and friends receive 10% off from their purchase. Following the child’s birthday, the child will receive a check made out to the nonprofit for them to either hand deliver or mail to the organization they chose.
The birthday box is very popular at Learning Express stores throughout the country but the Madison, WI store, owned by Waunakee resident and mother of two, Catherine Tye, is the only store to date that is currently putting a charitable component to the Birthday Box.
Learning Express is locally, owned and operated in Madison, WI. It is located off Gammon Road in West Towne Mall next to Sears. Learning Express is the nation’s largest franchisor of specialty toy stores in the United States with over 140 stores nationwide and new locations opening yearly.
