Irishman asking friends to post more than just screenshots for birthday this year

Spreading the birthday cheer.

Earlier this year, Facebook rolled out an initiative that gave users the chance to use their birthday as a way for their friends to donate money towards their favourite, chosen charity. Facebook birthday messages normally consist of screenshots from your closest friends who are trying their best to make a fool out of you on your big day by sharing funny pictures you may have sent them over the year. A traditional birthday message - if you're lucky to get one - might come in the form of a birthday card and if you're extremely fortunate, you might even get some cash or a good old Lotto ticket inside. Facebook donate comes somewhere in the middle, birthday users are prompted to select one of the hundreds of thousands of charities on Facebook, set a goal amount and enter a custom message. Your friends will then be sent a notification saying "[name] has invited you to contribute to a good cause for his/her birthday." Friends can then click on the post and are able to donate all different sorts of amounts for the chose charity. The mini-fundraiser is automatically public and ends at the midnight of your birthday. Noel Collins decided this year - on the celebration of his 29th birthday - was the year to do something different. He decided he was going to celebrate it in a way he has never done before, by setting up a Facebook fundraiser. The information section of his fundraiser reads: "For my birthday this year, I'm asking for donations to LauraLynn – Ireland’s Children’s Hospice. I've chosen this charity because their mission means a lot to me, and I hope you'll consider contributing as a way of celebrating with me. Every little bit will help me reach my goal." At €200, the target is very small but as Noel told JOE, it really is the thought that counts: "My birthday happens to be near enough the Christmas season and coming up to this festive period, it's about children really. "Children who are sick have a very hard time of it at Christmas and a small donation will hopefully make a massive difference to them and I chose that charity simply because they do brilliant work." Cheers to Noel Collins for sending this our way. Got a story for JOE? Hit us up on Facebook or Twitter, send it to our WhatsApp number 087-4001102 or mail editorial@JOE.ie.