Addie Loerzel (in front) and Marisa Bengtson (second from right) delivered Spread Your Sunshine’s first birthday surprise for a homeless youth at the Career Academy earlier this year. Homeless liaison Amy Riccio is at the right. (Photo/Spread Your Sunshine.)
Spread Your Sunshine customizes birthday surprises, as they did for this young fan of Marcus Theaters. (Photo/Spread Your Sunshine.)
Spread Your Sunshine received the FM Chamber of Commerce’s award as 2025’s Nonprofit of the Year. From left: Jessica Bengtson, Marisa Bengtson, Jeremy Robins and Lisa Brasgalla. In front: Addie Loerzel.
The Spread Your Sunshine team: Addie Loerzel (in front); Marisa Bengtson (standing at left); and Lilly, Heather,Joel, Audrey, Blake and Ava Hughes.
Nancy Edmonds Hanson
Food, clothing and shelter are considered essential needs of young people who are experiencing homelessness.
But two Moorhead women insist that another belongs on that list: Fun.
“We were flabbergasted when we learned how many unaccompanied youth are in our schools,” Marisa Bengtson reports. “We wanted to do something for them – to bring them moments of joy.”
From that moment, Marisa and her 20-year-old daughter, Addie Loerzel, resolved to find a way to bring them happy memories. That’s when Bright Birthday Wishes were born.
Working through their young nonprofit organization, Spread the Sunshine, the two have helped create warm birthday memories for unaccompanied boys and girls attending Moorhead schools. In the 10 months since their first birthday celebration, they have provided gifts, cakes and good wishes to some 50 teens without families to wish them well.
“Imagine no one knowing it’s your birthday,” Marisa says. “Imagine being all by yourself. Fun and joy can be as important as food and shelter when you’re growing up. We want to make their day special.
Nearly one in eight young Spuds are considered homeless, according to Moorhead Public Schools’ homeless liaison Amy Riccio. Of the 350 or so experiencing those challenges this year, about one-quarter – 85 – are “unaccompanied,” without the care of a parent or guardian.
Through Spread Your Sunshine, the mother and daughter are brightening their birthdays. The two get names from the school district, along with each kid’s wish list – something the youth desires, along with a favorite restaurant and other clues.
They take it from there, shopping to find the birthday girl or boy’s heart’s desire along with a gift certificate to the restaurant of their choice. “Their wish lists aren’t extravagant,” Marisa notes. “It’s usually some article of clothing – a Nike hoodie, for example, or a pair of running shoes.”
The favorite eating spots, too, are what you’d expect of teens. “McDonald’s comes up a lot,” she says, “along with Mexican places.” She adds, “Right now, Dave’s Hot Chicken seems to be in the lead.”
The paid deliver the brightly wrapped gifts to Amy’s office in the Moorhead Career Academy, along with balloons and a cake with candles. The staff takes it from there, connecting the birthday boy or girl with their Bright Birthday Wish.
If Addie Loerzel’s name seems familiar, it’s because she has been brightening other children’s days since the age of 7. That’s when she was awarded a trip to Disney World by the Sunshine Foundation, 50-year-old national entity that grants wishes to children with disabilities. “She came home wanting to do something for other children,” her mother says.
They began with Addie’s Royal Cupcake Stands. For a dozen years, the girl raised money by selling treats from outdoor stands accompanied by crowds of well-wishers dressed as cartoon princesses. She has carried on the practice in recent years with Addie’s Sunshine and Treats, selling (and taking orders) for goodies throughout the summer. One hundred percent of the profits are earmarked for “spreading the sunshine.”
And they looked for ways to do it. Talking to the volunteer coordinator of Churches United for the Homeless, We asked, ‘How can we help the kids?’” Marisa remembers. They learned about the Bright Sky Apartments, with their formerly homeless families. “She told us they had little opportunity for social activities and fun.”
The Sunshine pair sprang into action with what they expected to be a one-time event, “Batman and Bell’s Birthday Bash.” It was a hit. “After the first event, we were hooked,” she confides. That was more than four years ago. Since then, the party’s have been regular entries on the apartment house’s calendar. Activities have varied – a painting class, cooking experiences, at Thanksgiving and Christmas, when they distributed gifts collected by WDAY-TV’s toy drive.
For the first two dozen months, Addie and her mother funded the pizza, pop and other refreshments from their own pockets. But two years ago, with costs rising and ideas for more fun flowing, they formalized their volunteer charity by incorporating Spread Your Sunshine as a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Since then, the organization has qualified for grants from the FM Area and Alex Stern foundations. They’re in the former’s Caring Catalog right now, and will participate in their first Giving Hearts Day in February.
Sharing opportunities for joy remains their passion. In recent months, they’ve begun providing Bright Birthday Wishes at the West Central Regional Juvenile Center and North Moorhead Village apartments. They have also arranged to celebrate birthdays for residents of the Jeremiah Program, a Fargo nonprofit that aids single mothers get back on their feet. “They have plenty of things for the kids, so there we’re celebrating the young moms’ birthdays,” Marisa points out.
News of Spread Your Sunshine has reached beyond the young celebrants who receive those restaurant gift cards, presents and birthday cakes. In May, the young charity was name the Fargo-Moorhead Chamber of Commerce’s nonprofit of the year for 2024.
Spread Your Sunshine has always been – and continues to be – an entirely volunteer organization. Though Addie is studying hospitality management at North Dakota State University and Marisa works with the ARC of Clay County, they devote their free time to bringing joy into young lives. With gratitude to the friends who volunteer to help, Marisa says, “Everything we all do is from the heart.
“Other organizations are working hard to provide the basic needs of families struggling to feed, clothe and find shelter for their children – fill those basic needs. But fun is also a basic need. Fun and joy are not only extras. They’re essential for a successful life.
“We want these kids to create fun memories of these difficult days. We’re building social connections for young people who feel isolated and alone. We just never realized how, when others heard about the needs, this thing would grow.”
Find out more about Spread Your Sunshine on its website, https://addiessunshine.org/, and on Facebook.
