Birthdays are one of the most exciting times for many children. Most of us probably remember carefully crafting the lists of the newest toys and games we wanted and anxiously awaiting the party when the gifts are opened.

For West Point’s Cameron and Colton Blissard, they saw their birthdays as an opportunity to help others. Instead of gifts for themselves, they asked their friends and family to make donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“We decided that we had too many toys that we didn’t play with,” said Colton, 9. “So, instead of getting more toys that we probably won’t play with in the future, we decided to give money to St. Jude instead.”

Their birthdays are less than a month apart on the calendar — the younger Cameron turned 8 in November and Colton will turn 10 in December — so they decided to have a joint harvest party. There were jumpers, hayride games and even roasted marshmallows, not to mention $732 collected to donate to the hospital.

The cards and money were collected in a basket. Seeing the money there in the basket was when the scope of what they were doing set in for the two.

“There was a bunch of cards and money in the basket we were putting the cards in,” Cameron said. “It feels really good.”

Colton shared his brother’s sentiments.

“It makes me feel warm inside,” he said.

Kerrie Blissard, the boys’ mother, was brought to tears by her children’s generosity.

“It brings (their father and I) joy, seeing them help others,” she said. “To see them think of others instead of themselves. You don’t find many children that age that want to give up a present to help somebody else.”

The idea wasn’t without personal inspiration. The duo’s grandparents, Charles and Brenda Gentry, or Nana and Papaw as they call them, have been donating to St. Jude monthly for almost 50 years. They also make donations in their grandchildren’s honors for Christmas and birthdays.

“They’ve been making donations since 1977, each month,” Kerrie said.

In addition to the family connection, the boys had seen TV commercials about the hospital and seeing what it does.

“Just hearing all of those things, they decided that was something they wanted to do,” Kerrie said. “They wanted to help other children.”

St. Jude is largely dependent upon donations.

“Unlike other hospitals, the majority of funding for St. Jude comes from generous donors,” the hospital’s website reads. “Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food. Although we accept insurance, St. Jude is a research hospital, so many of the treatments and services we provide are not covered by insurance.”

The hospital says 82 cents of every dollar received goes to supporting the hospital. The boys’ contribution totals to around $600 going directly to the hospital.

“Our donors can trust that their giving has helped save the lives of thousands of children,” the site reads.

The boys’ parents weren’t the only ones who took notice of their giving spirit. Their friends who came to the party were impressed as well.

Some were even inspired.

“They thought it was cool and one of my friends said they might do it next year,” Cameron said.

Colton and Cameron said they will probably do it again themselves, next year.

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