The Jefferson County Foster Children’s Fund is seeking donations for its annual winter holiday party.
Donations are being collected through Dec. 6.
JCFCF Board President Theresa Robson said the Jefferson County Foster System has about 600 children in its care, and many of those children left their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Robson said the party, which takes place on Dec. 15, is an opportunity to show these children they are special.
Each child will receive a bag they get to fill up with both necessities and holiday gifts. They also will receive a new pair of pajamas; a blanket; hat and gloves; a craft kit and puzzle; and a stuffed animal. The children will visit Santa and the elves and go to Santa’s Workshop to pick out one gift bundle, an approximately $50-60 value.
Elsa from the movie, “Frozen,” Spiderman and possibly other characters will be on hand to visit with children. Also, dinner, including pizza and cookies, will be served.
The party is for children up to 18 years old.
Tables will be set up for The Aunt Rose Project, a group that provides free menstrual products, like pads, tampons, menstrual cups and feminine wash, as well as books about puberty and periods.
Robson said the cost for those products can be burdensome for families fostering teenage girls.
She said the party can help in healing trauma foster children may have experienced.
“Part of our mission for the Jefferson County Foster Children’s Fund is to create these magical moments to balance out some of the trauma they’ve faced in the past,” she said. “We want to make these kids feel special. We want to replace one of their core memories that they have with a really positive event, which is going to impact them in a good way as they go forward.”
The party is not only for the children that families foster, but also it’s for any other children those families have.
“We do allow the biological children or adopted kids of the foster families to participate just because we would never want to create a situation where they’re feeling left out either,” Robson said. “But also, they’re giving up time with their parents and they may sacrifice sharing their rooms, maybe sharing their clothing, that kind of stuff. So we want to kind of honor them as well.”
Robson said JCFCF also delivers gifts to children who are not able to attend the party.
She said the biggest gap in donations the group has is for teenage children, and for babies aged 1-3.
The JCFCF has created a list of needed items, which includes unwrapped toys and gifts; family board and card games; wooden puzzles for toddlers; puzzles and craft kits; children and teen coloring and activity books; colored pencils, markers and crayons; sports items (balls, skateboards, scooters, helmets, etc.); Legos and Nerf guns.
Clothing items for all ages (size preemie through 4XL) also are needed, as are blankets (size twin or smaller).
For teens, the group needs gift cards for Target, Walmart, Bath and Body Works, Visa/Mastercard, Walgreens, iTunes, Google Play, Xbox, Amazon, shoe stores, and fast-food restaurants.
Other gifts appropriate for teens include wallets; watches; earbuds and headphones; radios; tablets; duffle bags; journals; refillable water bottles; insulated cups; cologne, perfume, body wash gift sets and lotion; fingernail polish kits and manicure sets; cosmetics, toiletry and cosmetic cases; jewelry boxes; hair dryers, curling irons and flat irons.
All donated items must be new and unused.
The group also needs cookies, snack cakes, juice boxes and bottled water for refreshments at the party.
“We really couldn’t do this event without the support of the community,” said Robson. “It’s just absolutely amazing just looking around knowing that everything in the room has been donated, and knowing that these kids are feeling loved by people they’ll never meet, but it makes them feel special.”
Robson said the JCFCF hosts several events during the year to benefit foster children, including an Easter egg hunt in the spring and a family picnic in the summer, when the group also provides school supplies. The group also provides scholarships for activities a foster family may not have money on hand to pay for, such as dance classes, martial arts classes, summer camps or football camps.
The group also provides layettes for newborns, which includes bottles, pacifiers, clothes and diapers.
“We do get a lot of babies in care for drug exposure. So for those kids we provide the layette, which is basically everything you need for a baby for like the first two weeks. We provide everything to the families because oftentimes those are relatives, maybe even distant relatives, of someone who had a baby who had no idea the day before they were going to be offered a baby the next day.”
Robson said the group provides Necessity Nook, which has essential items, like underwear, socks, bras, and pajamas.
“The foster families do get clothing vouchers, but those clothing vouchers are not really nearly big enough for what they actually need.”
To send monetary donations, send a check made payable to Jefferson County Foster Children’s Fund to PO Box 445, Hillsboro, 63050. All donations are tax-deductible.
For questions, contact Theresa Robson by phone at 636-525-1889, email jeffcofosterfund@gmail.com or visit the group’s website at jeffcofosterfund.org.
Robson said the group provides updates on its activities and needs on its Facebook page.
Or, donations may be dropped off at the office at 10279 Business 21 (rear of building) in Hillsboro from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays or at one of the drop boxes around the county.