Dozens of Santa Clarita residents along with several first responders drove by the house of Jonathan Haselbusch, a teenager with special needs, to celebrate his 17th birthday while also respecting the social distancing required as part of “Safer at Home” order.

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In many ways, Jonathan Haselbusch is similar to other 17-year-olds in Santa Clarita. He has a loving family, a group of friends, and an infectious smile.

“Jonathan has a huge personality,” said Alex Patton, who describes Jonathan as her best friend. “He’s very lovable. He’s a teddy bear for sure.”

However, unlike other teenagers, Jonathan has special needs.

“He has some verbal communication, but mostly he uses an iPad for communication,” Jonathan’s mother Christina said. “He has some gross motor and fine motor issues, but overall he manages. He communicates in Jonathan’s way.”

Usually on March 28, Jonathan’s family celebrates his birthday with family, friends, and a bounce house. However, the Haselbuschs could not celebrate in their usual way this year.

“I was trying to plan a birthday for Jonathan, and then this whole thing happened with our Safer at Home protocol,” Christina said.

Photo by Michael Brown/KHTS News.

Earlier this month, officials with Los Angeles County issued the “Safer at Home” order in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus. The order banned all “nonessential” gatherings of any size within the county until April 19, making a birthday party for Jonathan practically impossible.

However, Christina was determined to not let her son’s birthday go by without a celebration.

“I got the idea of the drive-thru birthday party because I saw back in Illinois on the news that a little girl couldn’t have her birthday,” she said. “So the mom organized a drive by birthday.”

Christina sent out a Facebook invite to several people, asking them to drive by their Canyon Country home and “hoot, hollar, whistle, hold up a sign or bring a balloon,” according to the event’s Facebook page.

She had hoped for a few people to drive by. What she got was dozens of family, friends, and community members who came with signs, balloons, and gifts for Jonathan.

“To see how many people respond to this party…it’s overwhelming,” Christina said. “I am so touched that people will take time out of their day to just come celebrate Jonathan, even if they don’t know him. It means so much to me and I’m just honored that I’m his mama.”

Included among the many people who drove by were a dozen or so first responders from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

“When I saw all those sheriffs, oh my gosh, the emotion,” Christina said. “The tears started coming, filling up my eyes because I just was so overwhelmed that somebody had reached out to them and asked them to come and they responded. And to see Jonathan just explode with joy and his eyes just pop out of his head, it was so amazing.”

When asked what she would tell the people that drove by, Christina said she would thank them all for making Jonathan’s day special.

“With the signs and the poppers and the gifts and the balloons, I mean, this is what our community’s all about and I’m just so grateful to be a part of it,” she said. “It touched my heart.”

Photo by Jamie Araki/KHTS News.

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