Swampscott Boy's Birthday Party Fundraiser a Success

AJ Kluge loves dogs. He loves them so much, in fact, that he decided to give up his birthday gifts so that some dogs in need could have gifts instead.

Kluge’s 10th birthday party guests were asked to forgo buying gifts for him and instead come to his party prepared to donate to Sweet Paws, an Essex dog rescue.

Heidi Kluge, AJ’s mother, said that her son raised about $250-worth of goods during his June 13 birthday party.

This was the third year in a row the young Kluge asked for his birthday gifts to go to a good cause. For his eighth birthday he collected donations for the military, which he delivered to Hanscom Air Force Base and his ninth birthday was dedicated to a local reptile rescue.

“I am very proud of my son,” Heidi Kluge said. “He is going to be 10 and for the last three years he has given up receiving gifts to donate to people or animals who he feels need them more.”

Photo: An image from Kluge’s ninth birthday party when he raised money for a reptile rescue. Kluge is fifth from the left.