PITTSTON TWP., Pa. — Liliana Orth, a 7-year-old Pittston girl, celebrated the birthday of a lifetime recently when her favorite place — her local Aldi grocery store — hosted her surprise party.

The Aldi supermarket in Pittston Twp. opened an hour early on March 1 to host Liliana Orth, a girl with autism who is nonverbal and who loyally shops at the store every Wednesday night with her mother.

“She absolutely loved it. I don’t think I am going to be able to plan a birthday that is going to beat that one. Aldi set the bar,” Liliana’s mother, Heather Orth, said. “We had a pizza-themed party last year. She loves pizza. I couldn’t think of anything this year. One day, I was at Aldi, so I was like, ‘I’m going to make it an Aldi theme.'”

Aldi promoted the party afterward on its national Facebook page, writing, “Over the weekend, we hosted and celebrated a very special birthday party right in the birthday girl’s favorite place — her local ALDI store. Happy 7th Birthday, Liliana! It was a pleasure to witness your #ALDILove and join you to celebrate your big day!”

Orth planned to hold Liliana’s 7th birthday at the family home, so she visited the local store to see if they had any Aldi signs or memorabilia for the party. They gave her an old sign and an Aldi shirt for Liliana.

The determined mother also left a message on Aldi’s corporate Facebook page. She asked to buy anything Aldi-themed that would be a good fit for a little girl’s birthday party. Officials at Aldi responded that they wanted to host Liliana’s party at the Pittston Twp. store.

“They said they were going to provide everything and all we had to do was show up,” Orth said.

Liliana invited some family and friends from school at Pittston Area. Several Aldi workers stopped by on their own time.

Aldi provided a breakfast spread and snacks and gave Liliana and her friends a bag of gifts. Liliana received a bunch of extra gifts, of course.

They also provided a custom-made Aldi-themed cake crafted by a local bakery.

Liliana spent most of her party playing cashier, scanning groceries, her mother said.

“She didn’t want to leave the register. They let her be a worker for the day and even gave her a walkie talkie,” Orth said. “They already said she will have a job when she is old enough.”

So, when it was time to sing to Liliana, organizers put the cake on the conveyor belt and let it come to her. She soon blew out the candles and the group sang “Happy Birthday” to her.

Orth said Liliana asks to go to Aldi at least three times a week. She likes picking out her favorite snacks like Goldfish. She likes helping pick out ingredients to help cook dinner at night. But above all, she likes depositing the quarter to obtain a shopping cart — a unique concept to Aldi.

“She likes that the carts take quarters. She always takes quarters. She has a stash of quarters in my car,” Orth said.

Orth thanked Aldi for helping create “a memory our family will cherish forever.”

“It was beyond anything I could have done myself,” Orth said.

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