Above, 10-year-old Ian Love, left, joins his brother, Alex Love, 7, and friend Nolan Kim, 10, to show the money they earned at a joint birthday party for Ian and Nolan. Instead of asking for presents for themselves, Ian and Nolan requested cash donations from their friends and relatives. They raised $165, which they donated to the Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter (FAAS).

For the second year in a row Kira MacVicar, pictured below with her parents, saved up $73.34 in her tzedakah box and donated it all to the homeless animals at FAAS. Tzedakah boxes are for collecting money designated for charity. The Hebrew word tzedakah is related to the word tzedek, meaning justice. Giving money and resources to those in need is understood to be an act of justice. Rona Rothenberg was so inspired by Kira’s gift to FAAS that she matched it with a $72 donation to FAAS from her own tzedakah box.

“Our animals appreciate all the generous young people who have opened their piggy banks (and tzedakah boxes) or asked for donations to the shelter instead of birthday gifts for themselves,” FAAS said on its Facebook page. “How sweet and unselfish is that?”