By Kathryn Reyes

News-Times intern

Instead of presents, Hillcrest Elementary third-grader Kyler Lamb asked for a more meaningful gift on his birthday. It was not something he wanted to receive, it was something he wanted to give.

Last Saturday, Jan. 5, Kyler turned 9 and as he did, he made a very important and “grown-up” decision — to raise funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Island County.

“I did not want presents for my birthday,” Kyler said. “Instead of buying me presents, I just want my friends to give the money to Big Brothers and Big Sisters.” During his party, Kyler passed around a can, which he decorated himself. On it he wrote: “Thank you for giving money to the Big Brothers Big Sisters. And also have a good time at my party.”

He raised an impressive total of $121.25.

Kyler eagerly shared that he had a very enjoyable and very unique birthday party, even without traditional presents. He had a “Fear Factor” theme for his party, for which he and his mom, Bethany, carefully thought of modifying the parlor games for kids to make it as “fear-factorish” as possible. They played with food and had contests in which the kids had to eat chocolate off of baby diapers, as well as eating contests in which they had to finish off a weird mix of ketchup, mustard, smashed bugs, chicken brains and milk. The kids of course thought that they were really made to eat gross food. Little did they know, however, that the kethcup was actually red-colored pudding, that the mustard was actually vanilla, the smashed bugs were actually bananas and the chicken brains were actually marshmallows with gray food coloring. Indeed, Kyler had fun at his party. What made it even more unforgettable was the meaningful way he spent it. What Kyler did is really worth emulating and his parents are very proud of him. He has also been involved with other charity groups like Tree of Hope and Toys for Tots in the past.