Friends of Foster Kids

Organization to help foster kids move into Macomb

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Organization to help foster kids move into Macomb

ORIGINALLY POSTED BY THE VOICE  – DECEMBER 17, 2013

BY: NICOLE TUTTLE

Laura Hartman, a foster care worker, said she took part of Dec. 9 off to volunteer as a wrapper for Friends of Foster Kids. Hartman said she will deliver 15 sacks of gifts to children this year. (Photo by NICOLE TUTTLE)
Laura Hartman, a foster care worker, said she took part of Dec. 9 off to volunteer as a wrapper for Friends of Foster Kids. Hartman said she will deliver 15 sacks of gifts to children this year. (Photo by NICOLE TUTTLE)

Macomb Township may be a long way from the North Pole, but Friends of Foster Kids volunteers are working as quickly as Santa’s elves to complete wish lists from local children.

Friends of Foster Kids founder and director Theresa Toia said each year the organization obtains a building with utilities donated from about October to January for their efforts. This year the donated building came from The Foam Factory and is located on 23 Mile Road in Macomb Township.

“We have building space that is donated and we receive gifts from donors,” Toia said.

Toia said that foster children that come into custody are not in a permanently placed situation, and that there is no funding or program to provide them with a Christmas as the state only provides each foster family with $25 for the holidays. Friends of Foster Kids plans to assist about 700 children throughout Macomb County this year, according to Toia. Gifts will also be provided for about 50 Oakland County children who have been abused. Toia said that the organization is 100 percent volunteer and all money donated goes towards assisting children.

Foster care case workers provide Friends of Foster Kids with the first names, last initials, ages, gender, sizes and wish lists of foster kids they supervise, and donors are asked to provide a child with gifts from the three-item wish list, said Toia.

“Each child gets their own personalized Christmas according to the wish list,” she said.

The bags of gifts are sorted by caseworker as caseworkers deliver the gifts, according to Toia.

“If the child needed a coat and boots and did not get it, we find funding and purchase it for them,” Toia said. “Then we bag everything in big red Santa bags. The wrappers come and wrap them and put them back into the bags. They are sorted by caseworker and the caseworkers pick up the bags when they are completed and deliver them before Christmas.”

Volunteers to wrap gifts come from a variety of different sources, including companies according to Toia. She said that Macomb Community College employees have not only provided gifts from children’s wish lists, but have also volunteered to come in groups for wrapping.

Foster care worker Laura Hartman and her mother Lenora Trudeau volunteered to wrap gifts on Dec. 9. Hartman said she delivers 15 bags to children in Macomb, Wayne and Oakland counties, and has delivered to children as far away as Kalamazoo in the past. Hartman said that she often makes the deliveries during home visits and families hide the items until Christmas.

Hartman said that she helps children draw up their lists and often consults with relations or foster parents in the process.

“There is usually one big ticket item,” Hartman said.

The children usually get what they ask for and more, Hartman said.

Anne Lally, Donna Holien and Fran McQuade also volunteered to wrap presents on Dec. 9, as did many other members of their pinochle club.

Holien said she learned about the Friends of Foster Kids last year, and that she and her daughter have “adopted” families for two years.

“Our card club decided to sponsor a child… We also volunteered to wrap,” Lally said.

To donate or wrap gifts contact Toia at (586) 307-4438.

Nicole Tuttle is a freelance reporter. She can be contacted at ntuttle.reporter@sbcglobal.net

MACOMB TOWNSHIP: Knitting club assists Macomb foster kids

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MACOMB TOWNSHIP: Knitting club assists Macomb foster kids

ORIGINALLY POSTED IN THE ADVISOR & SOURCE NEWSPAPERS — NOVEMBER 14, 2013

BY: NICOLE TUTTLE

Chicks with Sticks members Terry Sands and Vera Lesinski continue their knitting projects for Friends of Foster Kids while surrounded by the efforts of the club for that organization.
Chicks with Sticks members Terry Sands and Vera Lesinski continue their knitting projects for Friends of Foster Kids while surrounded by the efforts of the club for that organization.

Given the volume of stacked boxes filled with knitted blankets, mittens, scarves and hats stuffed into a room of the Marvin Blank Senior Center in Macomb Township, one might easily assume that the Chicks with Sticks knitting group was preparing for a trip to the North Pole. And they are, sort of.

The Chicks have decided to play Santa this year to Friends of Foster Kids, donating the handmade items of its 36 members on Nov. 21. Chicks with Sticks founding member Carol Milkowski said the group decided to donate to a single charity at Christmas in August, when a member brought in a pamphlet from Friends of Foster Kids.

“It seemed like it was meant to be for us,” Milkowski said. “We do so much knitting and crocheting, it is a very worthwhile organization to give to.”

Milkowski said that after reviewing the pamphlet, she contacted Friends of Foster Kids founder and director Theresa Toia and invited her to speak before the group. Milkowski said Toia impressed upon the Chicks how badly foster children need the items they can make.

“They do not have anything or anyone. So we made more,” Milkowski said.

Friends of Foster Kids is a Macomb County-based charity created with the goal of assisting local foster children. Toia said the organization obtains a building with utilities donated from October to January for its efforts. This year the donated building is located on 23 Mile Road in Macomb Township.

“We get children that come into custody that are not in a permanently placed situation,” Toia said. “There is no funding or program to provide them a Christmas. The state of Michigan provides each family that houses those children $25 for a Christmas. So we try to make them feel special one day a year.”

Toia said last year Friends of Foster Kids assisted approximately 900 children. Foster care case workers provide Friends of Foster Kids with the first names, ages, gender, sizes and wish lists of foster kids they supervise, and donors are asked to provide a child with gifts from the list, according to the Friends of Foster Kids website. Gifts for each child must be wrapped and labeled with the child’s first name, age and the case worker’s code number, according to the website. The gifts are then distributed to the foster care workers, who deliver the gifts.

“All of the kids need winter things, scarves and hats. We go by age range to find out where they should go,” Toia said.

Toia said she is particularly pleased to be receiving donations from Chicks with Sticks, as the group offers handmade items.

“I love when people give me homemade things they make as a hobby,” Toia said.

Nancy Nevers, a Macomb Township trustee and president of the Shelby-Macomb Daybreakers Kiwanis Club, said the club does fundraisers throughout the year and selected to donate some funds to Chicks with Sticks to provide yarn and materials for the group’s projects. Milkowski said the Chicks also accept donations from the community.

Nevers said that in October, Toia made a presentation to the Kiwanis Club and she discovered that Chicks with Sticks planned on donating a large number of bins filled with knitted items to Friends of Foster Kids.

“My Kiwanis group gives them money for the yarn and materials to do these fine acts of charity,” Never said.

Milkowski said although there is not an exact count of the items made by the Chicks, the group tried to make things in various sizes to accommodate the Friends of Foster Kids children, who range in age from infants to age 20.

“This is our biggest donation ever to just one charity,” Milkowski said.

Chicks with Sticks is also planning to donate hygiene products, clothing and toys to Friends of Foster Kids, Milkowski said.

Nevers said the Shelby-Macomb Daybreakers Kiwanis Club plans to assist Friends of Foster Kids as a holiday project as well.

Nicole Tuttle is a freelance reporter. She can be contacted at ntuttle.reporter@sbcglobal.net