COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nearly 100 toddlers gathered at the Columbus Commons Saturday afternoon to celebrate their first birthdays for the CelebrateOne birthday party bash.
The festivities included music, food, birthday cupcakes, costumed characters, carnival games, bounce houses, early childhood education resources and a special gift from CelebrateOne for families.
“The purpose of the CelebrateOne First Birthday Party is to celebrate the monumental event of babies in our community reaching their first birthday and to connect parents with early childhood education resources so that their toddlers can thrive,” said Danielle Tong, executive director of CelebrateOne.
In 2022, approximately 17,250 babies were born in Franklin County and a total of 139 babies died before their first birthday.
“We have specific Columbus neighborhoods which continue to experience unacceptably high rates of infant mortality, with rates being disproportionately higher among Black infants,” Tong added.
Infant mortality is the death of an infant before his or her first birthday.
CelebrateOne was created in 2014 to reduce the infant mortality rate in Franklin County. In addition, CelebrateOne is also addressing the disparity among white and Black babies. Access to adequate housing, proper medical care, food and transportation play a role in this disparity.
"The subject that we are here to support can be heavy and we're really happy that we are celebrating this specific milestone, some joy we can take away from such a heavy topic that we work with all year long this is our opportunity to just kind of throw up some confetti and celebrate the folks who have made it with us,” Tong said.
In 2021, CelebrateOne and its partners developed a five-year strategic plan to focus on these inequities and it can be viewed here.
