Saturday, December 17, 2011 was a cold and sunny afternoon, but as families entered the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Seattle Washington, the festive holiday atmosphere inside made everyone feel warm and welcomed. Attended by over 100 families and 200 children this event left families and their children with “tidings of comfort and joy” and overwhelming gratitude for all of the hours of work which went into making this event possible.
Families in attendance ranged from those in the process of getting licensed to foster/adoptive families with over thirty years of fostering experience which gave everyone an opportunity to meet and encourage one another as they shared their stories with each other. There was also a wide variety of ages, cultures and ethnicities represented which is a reminder that foster care is for many of our families a multi-cultural experience.
While families bodies were nourished by a delicious full course luncheon provided and served by the King-South Mockingbird Constellation Families, their hearts were warmed by Holiday Music made possible by the Seed of Abraham Pentecostal Church Christmas Youth Choir.
Lunch was followed by a myriad of festive events to enchant and entertain our families. To the delight of the children, The Balloon Man”, Chuck Amos, from “Promise Players Clown Ministry” was on hand to create fun and festive balloon animals and hats. Volunteers, including Minister Chuck Harmon and students from Sammamish High School, Bellevue College, Seattle University and Texas Christian University enjoyed making gingerbread houses with the children and supervising the Bouncy House Activities where little bodies full of sugar could safely expend some of their accumulated energy.
The event was topped off by the arrival of our honored guest, “Santa Claus” played jollily by Paul Houge. Santa’s lap was kept full of smiling children as Ellis Nelson provided families with a keepsake Santa picture to help them remember this afternoon. In the spirit of Christmas giving, all families also received food bank donations, gift cards, clothes, books, and toy donations with over 50 holiday wrapped gifts distributed to the children.
We know how important these events are to our community’s foster/adoptive families and the children in their care, so it is our desire to continue to offer these events to support and nurture our wonderful families who sacrifice so much to make sure that our most vulnerable children have safe and loving homes to heal in.
This event was made possible by the partnerships of Fostering Together Central District Support Group’s facilitator Angela Lalonai Pitts-Long and her Assistants Sarah Morley and CeCe Smith (of Young Adult Services, YMCA), the King-South Mockingbird Constellation led by Anne Travis-Barker, the King-East Mockingbird Constellation led by Gerald and Mary Donaldson, Valerie Von Destinon (Bellevue East DCFS Case Manager) , Stephanie Allison- Noone (Area Administrator for the King East DCFS office) and Doreen Holze (Secretary Supervisor of the King East DCFS Office. Thank you to everyone for helping to make this event a wonderful experience for our families.
We also want to express deep gratitude for the generous gifts and financial donations received from the King-East DCFS Office Staff, Fostering Together, Olive Crest, Seed of Abraham Church Women’s Department, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, University of Washington Environmental Health and Safety, Sleep Country, “Sibling House” (Founders; Michael and Lynne Gaskill), Seattle’s Holy Ground Community Church, the staff and families of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Dave and Diane Allison and the Doreen Holze family.
