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Quick-thinking mom takes to social media to make son's fifth birthday a special day

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RIVERVIEW, N.B. -

A fifth birthday only comes around once in a lifetime.

So when Jean-Marc Clark's was about to ring in the occasion, his mom Jenn Clark planned a party for him to celebrate.

Unfortunately, due to changed plans, none of the friends Clark had invited to the party in Riverview, N.B., were going to be able to make it.

"Like many kids' birthday parties, other plans got in the way, or just people weren't able to make it and that's fine that happens, but it was disappointing because now I have all these decorations, and I just wanted him to have a good time," said Clark.

Instead of letting her son down on his special day, Clark says she stepped out of her comfort zone and took to social media where she posted an open invite to the party in the mom-support groups she belongs to.

"I just thought to myself, well there's mom groups, maybe some people have their kids at home today and they're bored and maybe they'll want to come and play," said Clark.

Clark's mother, and Jean-Marc's grandmother Debbie Leblanc admits she was a bit unsure about the idea at first.

"Well, because that's kind of foreign to me from when I was raising my children, so I thought 'oh my gracious, do you know these people?'" said Leblanc.

Thankfully, those strangers came through in a big way. Clark says about 15 kids and their parents came from all over the city to help Jean-Marc ring in his big day.

"Not only did people show up, but they showed up with homemade cards and gifts and I was blown away," said Clark.

As an extra surprise for Jean-Marc, when one of the party-goers found out about his love for firetrucks, they reached out to the Riverview Fire and Rescue crew, who showed up to the party with one of their engines.

Chief Robyn True, says while operational responsibilities such as responding to calls and training must always come first for the members, when time allows for them to attend special events like this, they try their best to show up.

"Riverview is still a small town at the end of the day and I think the firefighters really like that that we can be in contact with the community and do those kinds of special things, for kids especially, when they have a need," said True.

Clark says she's beyond thankful to the people who stepped up to help make her son's big day one to remember.

"I even had quite a few moms that messaged me that couldn't come and they said they'd be loving to have some play dates in the future, so that's great. He'll have lots of new friends," said Clark.

Plenty of new friendships ready to flourish, all thanks to a special social media shout out.

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