The holidays are often a difficult time for children in foster care, and so it is very important for us to make it as special as we can. COVID-19 may have cancelled our holiday parties, but it didn’t stop us from making sure our students had lots of holiday gifts, supplies they needed, and a face-to-face greeting from their coaches. We delivered holiday packages to their homes, which made them and their coaches very happy!
We also brought them their BF ELF gifts. BF ELF is a program we developed years ago after realizing that children in foster care never have the opportunity to experience the feeling of giving, and what an important experience that is. Every year, we have our students choose someone they would like to give a gift to, they can choose anyone, and any gift, up to a $20 value. We then pair each child with a volunteer, who purchases the gift for them. Our coaches bring them the gift, along with wrapping paper and a card, so they can learn how to wrap and prepare the gift. They can then give the gift over the holidays. It is an incredibly successful program and we are grateful to all the volunteers who participate and make it possible.
We look forward to the time we can start seeing our students in person again, until then, we will do whatever we can to support them and to keep them engaged.
