Foster children gather for Jingle Bell Christmas

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Hundreds of children and teenagers in foster care recently experienced a Jingle Bell Christmas.

"We have five children ages 6 and under who were extremely happy" said foster parent and mother LaNita Bar. "With school, visits, and just trying to come together as a blended family, this day could not have come at a better time. It gave our family an outing to remember."

Love Fosters Hope coordinated the event.

"I was overwhelmed by the amount of volunteers who came together to make this day happen," said volunteer Marcia McConnell, who donned an elf costume for the event. "It was magical."

Despite the rain, families enjoyed crafts, karaoke, cookie decorating, photo booths, a snow-covered slide and, of course, a visit from Santa.

"If I only did one Santa event a year, this would be the one," said Santa of the day, Jim Lawrence.

The children got to choose a gift from the toy department.

"It was amazing to walk in and let them pick out whatever they wanted," said foster parent Teri-Lyn Hatch. "They had so much to choose from. They had a lot of fun and talked about it the whole way home."

The Jingle Bell Christmas Party was made possible by a collaboration of organizations in Montgomery County, including CASA, Angel Reach, B2B, WoodsEdge Community Church, Restoration Church, The Woodlands United Methodist Church, Impact Church of The Woodlands, Chick-fil-A, Whataburger and Love Fosters Hope.