Donations of Gifts and Money Needed for Foster Children at Christmas

This time of year, you might be looking at ways to help children in need have a happy Christmas and there is one group that is often overlooked in our holiday giving.

It’s foster children.

Children living in foster care often have never had a Christmas or presents and their foster parents struggle to provide some sense of family and home – especially at this time of year.

That’s why the Georgia Department of Human Services is sponsoring their annual Secret Santa program so people can donate toys and other gifts to for foster parents to give to the foster children at Christmas.

Former Franklin County commissioner Angela Whidby is currently fostering seven children ranging in age from 13 months to 15 years old.

Whidby says many children in foster care have never experienced the joy of having a present to open on Christmas morning.

“That is correct,” Whidby said. “I have one child who told me they never had lights or decorations on their Christmas tree before. Some of these children that come in have never had a birthday party. Because of the situation they live in and because they come from homes with abuse, neglect, drugs and other issues, they just have never had a good life.”

This year requests at the State level have been received for 6,300 children in 100+ Georgia counties.

For the last few years, Secret Santa has allowed children to ask for 3 items with a cumulative value of no more than $150.

To donate to the Secret Santa program, you can go online to the Department of Human Services Web site and click on Secret Santa.

If you would like to donate items for foster kids in our area for Christmas, you can contact Whidby at 404-427-1082 or Julie Lawson at the Franklin County DFACS office in Carnesville at 706-961-9716.

But help for foster children and foster parents is also needed all year long and Whidby said there are all kinds of ways to get involved, such as sponsoring a foster child for a year, such as:

host or help with a foster care or adoptive parent appreciation event
post a foster/adoptive holiday party
support the foster/adoptive parent Association hosting the location, snacks, or babysitting for the monthly meeting
help foster/adoptive parents create a life book (scrapbook about the child’s life in and out of foster care)
offer training to foster/adoptive parents
sponsor a foster child for Christmas, their birthday, or any holiday
sponsor a foster child for extracurricular activities
become approved to babysit for foster parents
provide food for foster parent classes
make goodie bags for foster children
provide a Friday/Saturday night out for foster parents
purchase season passes for foster children to the zoo, Six Flags, the Braves games, etc.
pay for foster children’s music lessons, karate, camps, etc.
add foster or adopt information to the bottom of your emails
show a film at your church on fostering/adopting

If you would like more information on volunteer opportunities with foster children you can contact Whidby, Lawson, or the Franklin County DFACS office in Carnesville or your county DFACS office.