Events

FRIENDS OF FOSTER KIDS APRIL 2017 NEWSLETTER

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A Note from the Founder:

Spirit of Christmas! “Thirteen fifty three”

For 2016, we are excited to report, over thirteen hundred fifty three foster children felt the impact of your generosity and caring! It is breathtaking to realize that each and every child can believe they matter, as they receive a Christmas made especially for them, by Angels like you! Thank you…Thank you…Thank you!!!

Hats off to Grads!

In April, we kickoff our Hats off to Grads program. This program is designed to assist graduate foster kids transition into college dorm life or independent living. Imagine moving from house to house and school to school, without the love and support of a stable family environment, or reliable friends. Yet, each of these graduates had the fortitude to achieve academic success, while coping with these insurmountable odds. Recognizing their extraordinary accomplishment is paramount.

Please email us at info@friendsoffosterkids.org to sponsor a graduate’s list of needs.
Together we are changing lives…one child at a time!

Hats off to Grads Class of 2017

We kick off the program for graduates from Macomb and Oakland counties in April and then by June 9th, the collections will be sorted/ organized for a one-time distribution at their June celebration.

Sponsoring a graduate entails purchasing specific items that the graduate would need, it can vary from graduate to graduate depending if they will be going to college, starting a trade school or setting up independent living. Along with receiving a bio on the graduate you will receive their wish list stating the items they will need. Items could range from graphing calculators, bedding, mini fridges and microwaves to personal care items, household items, laundry and cleaning supplies to storage bins.

Donors can sponsor a graduate on their own or with family members, friends or group of friends! Through out the year some donors have also purchased generic items such as the storage bins and linens as they find them on sale.

Please email or call 586-307-GIFT (4438) if you can help! Angels, like you, make this important program a success!!

Events

On going:

Kroger Community Rewards – http://www.krogercommunityrewards.com

Amazon Smile – https:// smile.amazon.com

Thrivent Choice Member – FoFK can be selected with your Thrivent Choice dollars

PayPal – https:// friendsoffosterkids.org/portfolio/donate/

April:

4-27 Alex & Ani Fundraiser – Shop for a Cause

6-9pm The Mall at Partridge Creek

May:

5-1 Hats Off to Grads! kick off – Please call for a student’s wish list to fulfill. Items purchased due by June 9th

5-24 BD Mongolian BBQ – Celebrity Chefs

6-9pm Hall Rd, Sterling Heights Hosted by Central Macomb Optimist Club

5-28 Marching in the St Clair Shores Memorial Day Parade

June:

6-11 6th Annual Tom Powers Charity Classic – Castle Creek Golf Club Scramble with prizes – 8:30 checkin

October:

10-26 4th Annual Fall Fundraiser – San Marino Club – Troy

November:

11-1 Spirit of Christmas Program

Sponsor a Christmas for a foster child. Be one of Santa’s Angels!

Download a PDF of the Friends of Foster Kids April Newsletter 2017 APRIL Newsletter, and email info@friendsoffosterkids.org to receive the newsletter to your email inbox.

5th Annual Tom Powers Charity Classic

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The 5th Annual Tom Powers Charity Classic (T.P.C.C.) on June 12th at Castle Creek Golf Club supporting Friends of Foster Kid was a great success!

It was a beautiful day for golf, and a good time was had by all. Additionally, the T.P.C.C. raised over $4,200 for Friends of Foster Kids!

Thank you to all the golfers, sponsors, donors, volunteers and Castle Creek Golf Club for making the day memorable and for your generosity.

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Another Special Thank you to our Hole Sponsors:

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WLAM-Macomb’s 3rd Annual Cocktails for a Cause Spring Mixer for Friends of Foster Kids

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Thank you Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, Macomb Region (WLAM-MAcomb) for hosting this wonderful event for Friends of Foster Kids on May 18, 2016! This year, the WLAM-Macomb Cocktails for a Cause beneficiary was Friends of Foster Kids (FOFK). This year’s Spring Mixer included a Pajama & Tote Bag / Duffel / Backpack Drive for the kids! 

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2016 Friends of Foster Kids Alex & Ani Fundraiser

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Thank you Alex & Ani at Partridge Creek for hosting a fundraiser on Thursday, April 21st in support of Friends of Foster Kids!Alex & Ani 2016 Event

Supporters we’re able to shop for upcoming birthdays, Mother’s day, communions and just because! This was a wonderful opportunity to purchase that special gift for those special someones and support a worthy cause! Together, we can make a difference, one child at a time! 15% of all proceeds will be donated to support Friends of Foster Kids, excluding Charity By Design and the Bangle of the Month.

We are excited to announce the winner of the bracelet drawing at our Alex and Ani fundraiser. Congratulations to Diane P. of Clinton Township! Thank you again to all that came out to support us!!

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The Utica-Shelby Township Kiwanis Club’s 25th annual Bids for Kids charity auction is Dec. 4

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The Utica-Shelby Township Kiwanis Club’s 25th annual Bids for Kids charity auction is Dec. 4

An excerpt from, The Macomb Daily Article, SERVICE CIRCUIT: Sterling Heights Lions offer vets ‘opportunity to service community’ –November 13, 2015

By Linda May, For The Macomb Daily

The Utica-Shelby Township Kiwanis Club’s 25th annual Bids for Kids charity auction is Dec. 4 at the Palazzo Grande Banquet Hall, 54660 Van Dyke Avenue, Shelby Township. This year the club shares proceeds with Friends of Foster Kids and Play-Place for Autistic Children. Tickets are $65 and include hors d’oeuvres, raw bar, carving and pasta stations, salads and vegetables, dessert table, flavored coffees and premium beverages, silent and live auction, and entertainment. For further information, contact Lester Gilbert at 586-731-7450 or lestergilbert@hotmail.com.

Friends of Foster Kids Fundraiser

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Friends of Foster Kids Fundraiser

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY WXYZ CHANNEL 7 – OCTOBER 26, 2015

Sterling Heights, MI (WXYZ) – Michigan has more than 3,000 children in the foster care system hoping and waiting to be adopted.

The Macomb County based “Friends of Foster Kids” is trying to support them.

You can help their cause this weekend.

The organization is holding its annual fundraiser Thursday October 29th at the Freedom Hill Banquet Center.

Tickets are $100 and can be purchased by calling (586) 307-GIFT.

More information can be found online: www.FriendsofFosterKids.com

Roger’s Roost hosts road rally to benefit foster children

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Roger's Roost
The gang at Roger’s Roost gears up for Saturday’s Road Rally to benefit Friends of Foster Kids. Manager Ryan Compton poses with servers Christina Bentley, Alicia Seignuerie and barback Tony DeMaria. MITCH HOTTS — THE MACOMB DAILY

Roger’s Roost hosts road rally to benefit foster children

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE MACOMB DAILY – SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

BY: MITCH HOTTS

Roger’s Roost sports bar in Sterling Heights is hosting a Road Rally Barbecue on Saturday to benefit a nonprofit that works to help the community’s foster children.

The event starts at 3 p.m. at the Roost and concludes with a barbecue dinner at 6 p.m. Proceeds will benefit Friends of Foster Kids, a Macomb County-based charity that finds donors to donate Christmas presents to displaced foster kids.

“They work with case workers from the Michigan Department of Human Services to find foster kids and they make a Christmas wish list for the kids for the holidays,” said Renee Murray, a bartender at Roger’s who is coordinating Saturday’s event. “We’re helping Friends of Foster Kids to come up with the funding for the gifts.”

For the road rally, teams of four will drive around town photographing themselves performing crazy tasks. At least 12 teams have signed up so far, organizers said.

“We’re doing this for the kids who aren’t as privileged as many, and want to give them a great Christmas as well,” said Ryan Compton, a manager at the restaurant.

After the road rally, the teams return to the restaurant for a barbecue dinner of hot dogs, burgers, and pulled pork, a pig roast and more.

The cost is $30 per person for the road rally or $15 for the dinner only. Check-in starts at 3 p.m., the rally begins at 4 and the dinner is served about 6 p.m.

Roger’s Roost is located at 33626 Schoenherr Road, Sterling Heights. For more information, email raynay9971@aol.com or call 586-979-7550.

Foster organization receives boost from Scouts

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Foster organization receives boost from Scouts

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN C & G NEWSPAPERS – APRIL 23, 2014

BY: SARAH WOJCIK

13 year old Meghan Lytle of Washington Township and student at Malow Junior High School from Cadette Troop #70047 in Shelby Township speaking to elementary school students about her community service project.
13 year old Meghan Lytle of Washington Township and student at Malow Junior High School from Cadette Troop #70047 in Shelby Township speaking to elementary school students about her community service project.

SHELBY TOWNSHIP — Friends of Foster Kids, a Shelby-based nonprofit group, works year-round to provide items to foster children in southeast Michigan.

Since December, four local Cadette Girl Scouts endeavored to create a race and family fun day at River Bends Park May 3 to benefit the Friends of Foster Kids. The Scouts started the initiative to earn the Silver Award, the second-highest award in Girl Scouts.

Meghan Lytle, Emma Kohler-Lewis, Allison Creek and Kayla Colussi put in more than 200 hours to plan and organize the event.

The 5k run/walk will take place at 8 a.m., and the family-fun event will take place from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and include carnival games, police finger printing, police and fire demonstrations, a princess meet-and-greet, music, face painting, and more.

The girls also will be collecting donations of pajamas, socks, underwear, winter clothing, toiletries, twin sheets, blankets, pillows and grants for Friends of Foster Kids.

For the past three years, Girl Scouts leader Sue Lytle said she and her troop have wrapped Christmas presents and sponsored foster children through the organization.

“I love the fact that it’s children helping children. There’s a certain symmetry to it that’s beautiful,” said Friends of Foster Kids Director Theresa Toia. “This was a huge undertaking for these ladies, and I’m impressed with everything they’ve done thus far.”

Toia said her organization assists upwards of 900 children annually who live in temporary homes or foster care after being removed from situations of abuse and neglect.

“I can’t even believe what these children have had to endure,” Toia said. “After you meet one child that has received a gift or help in some form, you realize the huge impact it has on these children to know they’re not alone and not forgotten, and there are people that do care out there.”

Toia said the organization was born when her daughter, a foster care caseworker, said that her whole caseload of children did not receive Christmas presents for the second year in a row during the recession.

Through word of mouth, hundreds of volunteers donated time and items to create specifically tailored Christmas wish lists to more children each year. Now, the organization supplies children with items year-round.

With children “aging out” of the foster care system, a large portion of the work the organization does also is directed at supplementing children’s apartments and dorm rooms.

“I feel like we’re slowly changing how people live,” Kohler-Lewis said. “To know that we’re helping people (is my favorite part). We’re not just doing it for ourselves.”

For more information about Friends of Foster Kids, visit www.friendsoffosterkids.org or email info@friendsoffosterkids.org.

To register for the race, visit www.active.com and search “Friends of Foster Kids 5K Angels Run.” River Bends Park is located at 5700 22 Mile Road.