She has thrown 1,700 birthday parties — for children who had never had one

Schinnell Leake started Extra-Ordinary Birthdays in 2010 after learning how many children in shelters had never celebrated their birthday. Sixteen years later, she and her volunteer ‘birthday angels’ have thrown more than 1,700 personalized parties — favorite color, cake, gifts, a card — for kids living in shelters across Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Every child also gets at least one book of their own.