Five-year-old Reina Takahara slowly approached Mildred Tadena with outstretched arms bearing a pile of books and a box of fresh crayons. The instant Mildred smiled at her, bent down and relinquished Reina of her burden, Reina rushed back to her parents and snuggled up to her dad.

Reina was learning first-hand that birthday parties for charity are all about redistributing the love, but did all those people have to be there to watch?

What is a birthday party for charity? It can be giving a party with a charitable theme (like Bill Green's Hawaii Foodbank party for his 80th birthday) or forgoing presents or part of the celebration and choosing to donate to the less fortunate, like Reina did last week. These two Islanders are among the increasing number of party hosts who believe it truly is better to give.

It wasn't hard for Reina to choose a "giving party," since she's only had two birthday parties in her young life, said her mother, Helen: one when she was 3, and this year's. Since the event fell just a little after Christmas, Helen and husband Mike felt uncomfortable at the idea of watching their daughter plow through the 20-plus gifts she was sure to receive from the guest list of 22 keiki. They've seen what excess does for other kids.

"You see children open presents, just (look) at them, and 'Next!' " Helen said.

The Takaharas tell of the time when they were driving past Ala Moana Beach Park. Reina asked about a man in dirty clothes, sleeping under a tree. They explained he was homeless and had no place to live. Reina said it made her feel sad.

Helen Takahara knows a little about deprivation herself. She grew up poor in the Philippines, where she had just one toy, a battery-powered piano.

"I couldn't even play with it because we didn't have batteries," she said.

Helen had heard about charity birthday parties on the Mainland, and started trawling online. Eventually she contacted the Shriners, which needed art supplies and coloring books.

When the invitations went out, the Takaharas explained to partygoers their idea: Come to the party, enjoy the cake, but no presents for Reina. If you want to bring something, bring art supplies or coloring books for Shriners kids. Some didn't get it.

"The concept was hard to grasp," said Mike Takahara.

"Our family felt like that," added Helen Takahara. "They said, 'Why are you, well, not depriving, exactly, but. ... ' "

When the time came, however, guests filled a podium-sized box for the Shriners kids. And on Feb. 26, Reina and her parents delivered it to Shriners, where Tadena, of Maui, was happy to give her a heartfelt "thank you."

Tadena remembers the last party for her son, Ruben, who spent his 9th birthday in Shriners in December. While that sounds sad, it wasn't so bad, she said. The staff had a party for him.

Tadena smiled as she looked down at the gifts from Reina in her lap. She was a little anxious about being away from Ruben, who had his hip operated on recently, but this was a good reason to take a break.

While it's unclear how many people are sharing their birthdays with the less fortunate, Polly Kauahi, the Hawaii Foodbank's director of development, said about once a month, a charitable sort will come into the office with an envelope filled donations from a party.

"We absolutely love the concept," Kauahi said. " ... It's a way one person can support an organization and bring more people on board."

While they support the idea, it wasn't theirs to begin with.

"It's not anything that we solicit," Kauahi said, adding that the age range seems to start at about 5 to 7. "That age group, when they do the lemonade stand, is a perfect time to teach children about others who are less fortunate. (We) hope if they start at that young age, they'll be more aware as they become teenagers and adults. It's very easy for a child to understand (the food bank) concept: they're eating and someone else might not be."

And that's not all. Food bank folks have seen the concept spread "for bar mitzvahs, baby lu'au. ... We've even heard it happens for weddings."

The aforementioned Bill Green, former owner and now consultant to Kahala Shell, was talked into an 80th birthday party on Nov. 11 by his wife and daughter, but he put his foot down when it came to lei or presents.

If guests wanted to do something, do it for the food bank, which he called "a wonderful charity." The little church he belongs to is a collection point for the Hawaii Foodbank, "and it happens to be a thing I feel strongly about," he added.

Imagine his surprise when he calculated that there were well over $1,000 in donations and more than 1,000 pounds of food.

"It took a whole truck to haul it down there," Green said. "It was even better than I expected."