How To Prepare For The Holiday Season When Fostering A Child
November 9, 2018
Foster Care: 4 Traits Of A Loving And Stable Home
November 23, 2018
The holiday season can be a difficult time for children in foster care, for so many reasons. If you’re not quite ready to become a foster parent but are still interested in lending a hand, there are several ways you can help to make the season a little brighter for someone in need. Read on to learn more.
Contact A Local Agency
The first step in helping local foster children this holiday season is to contact a local agency. Several organizations need extra help during the holidays. They should be able to give you specifics as far as necessities and wish-list items for children in need. You may even be able to “adopt” an entire family this holiday season, and be given specific clothing sizes, genders, and ages of the children. Depending on the agency and what they are comfortable revealing, you may even learn about the child’s personal interests, to help when shopping.
Amazon.com Wish List
Another way to support a foster child is to search for a nonprofit’s Amazon.com wish list. You can then select needed items off their list. Items may include anything from clothing to shoes, toys, art supplies, or school needs. Because the items are pre-chosen by the foster family or foster child, you will walkaway knowing that that child ultimately got exactly what they wished for.Amazon ships these items directly to the charity, making the whole process easier.
Host A Charity Event
If you have the time and the means, consider reaching out to a nonprofit in your state to help support them either with a donation or by organizing a charity event in their name. By pulling together and raising funds within the community, you can help hundreds of children in need every year. Reach out to local businesses to see who would match donations or lend additional support to your cause, such as offering a place to hold your event, a restaurant willing to help cater, or local businesses willing to donate goods and services for a silent auction.
Host A Donation Drive
Another option is hosting a donation drive for children in foster care, where you collect items from friends, family, neighbors, and the community at large. Make sure you are specific as far as items needed, such as winter hats and coats, unopened toys, or blankets. You may consider leaving a box out at your child’s school with an advertisement, or reaching out to a local doctor’s office or gym to see if you could set up a donation box there.Also consider social media to spread word of mouth. GoFundMe is another option for creating your own online charity to support foster children.
If you want to help a foster child in need this holiday season, remember to share your plan with your family and friends. Spreading awareness (and holiday cheer) is a great way to ensure that more foster children receive the love and support they need for a happier holiday season.And of course, please consider becoming a foster parent to give one of the greatest gifts of all.
Every child needs and deserves to grow up safe and protected from abuse and neglect, and caring foster parents offer children support and stability when they need it most. At Camelot Care Centers, we specialize in higher-level foster care for children and adolescents that need extra support. We partner with our foster parents/homes to provide trauma informed care and additional services, including in-home counseling, parent support and training, tele-psychiatry, and therapeutic mentoring, to maintain children at the least restrictive, yet most appropriate level of care. Camelot Care Centers(“Camelot”) is a Child Welfare Agency licensed by the State of Illinois, a member of the Illinois Collaboration on Youth (ICOY), and is accredited by theCouncil on Accreditation (COA).
