For their birthdays, Slayton and Keighan Speer have asked their friends not to bring them presents.
Instead, the two Lorton children have asked their friends to bring canned goods to their birthday parties, donations to be given to the Lorton Community Action Center.
"We were looking for a way to teach our children about giving and supporting the community and charity," said Camela Speer, their mother.
It was an idea that Slayton first took to heart with his birthday party two years ago, Camela Speer said.
"It was really successful, we raised $400 in non-perishable food and cash," Camela Speer said. "With Keighan's first party, we received 50 unwrapped gifts we donated for LCAC's Christmas hand outs."
"My friends think it's really, really cool," said Slayton, who collected items for LCAC's back-to-school backpack drive during his May birthday party. "It's pretty cool that people do this to help homeless people. I'm happy we do this."
Little sister Keighan, who has a December birthday, has gotten into the spirit as well.
"Instead of getting gifts, I ask people to help the poor," she said. "I get to give things to other people. It makes me feel happy."
The thoughtful children were recently honored by the Mason Neck Lions Club for their service.
"As an organization, our motto is 'We Serve,' but that's generally done in the area of vision and hearing," said Lions Club member Bernice Dinion, who is also head of awards committee for the club. "The children are members of the community and they did something nice for their community."
Dinion said the Lions hadn't honored children for their contributions outside of school or club activities before and the fact that Slayton and Keighan did this on their own was impressive to her and the club.
"We felt it was coming from the children," she said, not something they were told to do by their parents. "Hopefully, they continue to do that."
Michelle Gay, Keighan's second grade teacher at Halley Elementary, said some of her other students have started having their own donations-gathering birthday parties.
"Some of my other students have had birthday parties and in lieu of gifts, they have asked their party guests to donate to a certain charity," Gay said. "At Halley, we encourage and recognize good character traits and Keighan has set quite an example of kindness and generosity."