An Austin woman wanted to be “giving” during her birthday and got quite the surprise from her friends.

That surprise also turned out to be a huge benefit for the Friends of the Bastrop County Animal Control Shelter, who were the on the receiving end of the philanthropic effort.

Suzanne Amberg was about to celebrate her 50th birthday in Austin and didn’t want it to focus on her receiving a slew of personal gifts.

Her friend Margo Khollman related what occurred next.

“Suzanne said, ‘We’ve got to do a good deed,’ so we collected money for the Bastrop animal shelter as our way of giving her a birthday gift,” said Khollman of the efforts that were initially unbeknownst to Amberg and were meant to be her birthday surprise.

Khollman spearheaded the raising of $2,200 in check donations to the Friends, who will use the money to benefit the animal shelter.

Amberg, who loves animals, said it was the perfect birthday gift.

“Margo did the fundraising behind my back and I was speechless because it was a great idea and the perfect birthday gift for my birthday,” Amberg said.

On Saturday, Amberg’s friends and family gathered in front of the Bastrop shelter and presented a large replica of a single check for $2,200 to Friends representatives. They then handed over a large envelope containing the individual checks of their own friends, those checks adding up to the $2,200.

Sherri DeLeon, chair of the Friends of the shelter, said the donation was indicative of the outpouring of generosity from beyond Bastrop’s borders.

“Suzanne is out of Austin and this shows that there’s been a tremendous response from people out of the community and out of state after the fires,” DeLeon said.