Dozens of people rallied together in Kitchener, Ont. on Sunday to make seven-year-old Landen Hart’s birthday extra memorable after news no one showed up to his original party surfaced online.
“It's overwhelming,” his mother Ashley Verbakel told CTV Kitchener. “I didn't expect this many people here and all the work and effort that was put into Landen is just huge.”
The big party was a relief for Verbakel who says she threw another joint party for Landen and his brother two weeks ago but only one friend showed up for Landen who is autistic.
The 7-year-old says he was hurt when no one showed up.
“No one was there and I waited like two hours,” Landen Hart told CTV Kitchener.
Verbakel said as a mother, it was hard to see her son so upset.
“I was hurt for Landen. I felt bad for [him],” she said, questioning if she should have added a note to the invitations or reached out to the parents of Hart’s classmates.
“I felt terrible because I was wondering if there was more that I could do.”
In the end, Verbakel turned to Facebook to look for advice from other parents who have autistic children on how to handle birthdays.
The post got a lot of public support and attention and a group of people started planning a party for him.
Party organizer Kyle Stewart said he identified with Hart’s experience, as he grew up with ADHD. Stewart and the other organizers who saw the post wanted to try and fix the earlier unfortunate event.
“It’s sad. Let’s make it happy,” said Stewart.
Everything from the space at a hotel to the food and entertainment at the party was donated. Hart even got a special birthday message from some broadcasters at TSN.
With a report from CTV Kitchener
