2014 Giving Tree Farm: Love Fosters Hope, making foster children feel special and loved

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - This holiday season, Woodlands Online is hosting the second annual Giving Tree Farm. Several non-profit organizations around Montgomery County will be participating so that they can better serve those in need. Each organization has a decorated tree at the Woodlands Online office complete with ornaments that each have an item that would benefit that non-profit. One of the organizations participating is Love Fosters Hope. From December 3-December 19, members of the community can participate by picking an ornament and providing that particular item by placing it under their tree.

Love Fosters Hope is a non-profit organization that brings hope and healing to children and teens that are in foster care who have been abused, abandoned, and neglected. Since 1999, the organization has been making foster children in Montgomery County feel special, significant, and loved. Love Fosters Hope holds many different programs for youth in foster care, including the most popular: summer camps.

“We began 15 years ago doing summer camps for children in foster care,” said Cindy Mericle, the Executive Director of Love Fosters Hope. “Our camps are very uniquely designed for kids in foster care.”

For many children in the system, the average move to a different foster home is 6 months. They often have to change schools and start over with making friends, which causes them to not attach themselves to people. Love Fosters Hope allows the children to create bonds that won’t just last for the duration of the camp, but a lifetime.

Each summer, four different camps are held for youth, ages 6-19. Camp activities include swimming, dancing, kayaking, while also learning the importance of self-respect, teamwork, and communication. All of the kid’s birthdays are also celebrated at the camp and there is even a prom for the teenagers.

The Bridge camp is for the older teenagers, where not only do they get to experience those fun activities, but they also learn life skills to prepare for adulthood. The teenagers are taught simple things such as how to change a tire, proper dining etiquette, how to tie a tie, and how to prepare for a job interview. On average, about 2% of children in foster care graduate from high school. Last year, 7 out of 11 teenagers who attended Bridge camp are now in college. Love Fosters Hope is making a huge difference for youth and their future.

“We are really trying to help the teens chart the course of their life for success,” said Mericle. “We want the kids to be very hopeful about the future and see that there are many possibilities out there for them.”

Love Fosters Hope, however, doesn’t just stop after the summer camps; they work to help teens in the foster system year-round, even when they age out of foster care. From helping to furnish their apartments, hosting mentor programs, helping them to learn to drive, filling out college applications, or something as simple as buying a coat for a teenager who doesn’t have one, Love Fosters Hope is a huge support system for the foster children who have been positively affected by the organization.

This past year, Love Fosters Hope has been doing something new. Twice a month, staff and volunteers visit a residential treatment center for troubled girls in foster care.

"It has been a really rewarding experience to go in and try to inspire and encourage them,” said Mericle. “We do games, fun activities, we teach them to cook and we do craft projects.”

Since Mericle has been visiting, she has already seen a difference in the girls in that they are starting to believe that they are valuable and worthy.

“I love it when they’re happy and just having fun. They know that we won't think less of them, but rather encourage them. Mostly, everybody involved in their lives are paid to do it and it really touches them that we do this because we care about them. Nobody is paying us, but it is very rewarding to see people realize that they are valuable and worthy.”

As participants in the 2014 Giving Tree Farm, Love Fosters Hope is asking for pajama sets for teen girls, sizes small, medium, large, and extra large, along with giftcards worth $30 or under. All gifts received will go towards the girls at the residential treatment center. Love Fosters Hope is asking that all items be turned in under their tree by December 19.

“If you are going to be out there fighting those crowds, it will just bring you just so much more joy to give to someone else,” said Mericle. “I get the opportunity to see the expression on their face when they open the gift. We are just thankful that the community has such generous hearts.”

To visit the Love Fosters Hope giving tree, swing by the Woodlands Online office before December 19, located at 33300 Egypt Lane, suite B 500, Magnolia, TX 77354. For more information about Love Fosters Hope, visit the website provided below.