Frederick Balloon Co. sends 'balloon buddies' to nursing home residents

Jan. 16—Caity Byrne is determined to give every senior living in a nursing home or assisted living facility in Frederick County a "Balloon Buddy" — a smiley-faced balloon sculpture — as part of the #AdoptAGrandparent campaign.

Byrne, the CEO of Frederick Balloon Company, expects to start delivering these buddies on Tuesday.

Byrne first heard about the #AdoptAGrandparent campaign through some of her colleagues in the balloon industry. Since its inception last year, the campaign has gone international, and Byrne saw the opportunity to help spread some cheer to Frederick County's more isolated citizens.

"The response has been absolutely incredible," Byrne said. "There's a reason I named this company after this town, it's just such a great town."

People or companies can sponsor a senior citizen by purchasing a discounted Balloon Buddy on Frederick Balloon Company's website. Since launching the campaign earlier this week, Byrne said she's already sold out for two facilities, Sunrise of Frederick and Edenton Retirement Community. She wasn't expecting to see such big numbers so soon.

"Overwhelmingly, I would say, probably 85 percent of the orders that have come in have been from complete strangers that I don't know... who haven't been previous clients of ours, who are just compelled to do something for the community," she said.

Go Team Therapy Dogs of Frederick bought out the Record Street Home, since their dogs can no longer go to the facility and work with the residents. Byrne plans on replacing the hearts that the Balloon Buddies are holding with little balloon dogs for those residents.

The Frederick Balloon Company was actually born out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Byrne owns All About Balloons in Washington, D.C., and she mainly focused on larger events, including the Obamas' Halloween party and their going-away party. Once the pandemic began in March, however, all her business was gone.

"This has been the hardest time of my career," she said.

She decided to transition to doing smaller birthday, anniversary and graduation balloons, specifically in Frederick, where she lives with her husband.

"It's been amazing," Byrne said. "We've built a brand in less than a year, and it's in large part due to the community and the community's drive to support small business — it's really incredible."

During the summer months, Byrne made large balloon sculptures for drive-by celebrations, as well as no-contact drop-offs for birthday bouquets.

Byrne prides herself on being charitable — last year she sent balloons to first responders — but she knows in order to make the #AdoptAGrandparent campaign a success, she will need to have members of the community step up.

"This is one of those things that while we are practically giving it away," she said, "it's also helping us keep our lights on."

Follow Erika Riley on Twitter: @ej_riley

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