Christmas Stories 2011 & 2012
These are just some of the amazing stories from our gift giving effort. Thank you for supporting this effort that fulfilled so many wishes of Oklahoma children and many people surrounding them.
We got a call 2 days before Christmas about a new sibling group of 7 that had been picked up. Their grandmother was willing to take them to keep them from being separated, but wouldn't be able to provide Christmas for them. She could barely provide food & beds. The caseworker contacted us & one of our little shopping elves fulfilled all their wishes from donations we had received thru OKFW. When the caseworker arrived she said that all she could understand the sobbing grandmother say was "Feliz Navidad! Feliz Navidad!" as refused to let go of the very germaphobic caseworkers neck.
Another call came in just a week before Christmas. A school teacher was willing to take a sibling group (one of the children was a student of hers), but she only got paid on the 25th of each month and money was tight for her family with 2 kids she had already been saving to buy for. We provided Christmas gifts for the foster kids & contacted the Spero project to get an emergency food package. I found a volunteer to deliver the food before the weekend & another family contacted me with hopes of directly connecting with a foster family so I told them about the teacher & they jumped on board to help with presents for ALL the children in the home which helped the teacher to have some margin (including a walmart gift card to help w/necessities) to get thru to the next payday. She would be considered a kinship placement & although the children could be placed with her before everything was final, she will not be receiving any reimbursement from the state until her foster care classes were complete & her home study approved (this can take up to 9 months, trust me, I know 1st hand).
We had a great financial response and made a great effort to help catch any new/incoming kids. In this effort we (me w/the help of my friend, Jill blue) contacted all the shelters in the state. I met a few at toysRus one day & a few more at Walmart the next. Jill shopped online & delivered gifts (w/a few other volunteers) to area shelters. One night she and her family delivered to the mid/del shelter (owned by mid/del PD) there was a large man who works the night shift and was helping to unload the gifts and he was unable to hold the tears back when he saw what was provided for the kids!
Another story is in the form of a letter that the giver had written to the teen in foster care who he was buying for. The teen & giver shared a love for OU sports & the giver had decided to add one more gift for the teen which was a football signed by 4 OU legends & was one of the givers most prized possessions.
There are so many more stories to tell! I'm going to try to capture as many as possible to share throughout the year! Stories of caseworkers emotional toll being lifted & the smile on the tiny teen (16yo) mom's face when I told her she could choose what we bought for her 3 mo. old daughter!
We got a call 2 days before Christmas about a new sibling group of 7 that had been picked up. Their grandmother was willing to take them to keep them from being separated, but wouldn't be able to provide Christmas for them. She could barely provide food & beds. The caseworker contacted us & one of our little shopping elves fulfilled all their wishes from donations we had received thru OKFW. When the caseworker arrived she said that all she could understand the sobbing grandmother say was "Feliz Navidad! Feliz Navidad!" as refused to let go of the very germaphobic caseworkers neck.
Another call came in just a week before Christmas. A school teacher was willing to take a sibling group (one of the children was a student of hers), but she only got paid on the 25th of each month and money was tight for her family with 2 kids she had already been saving to buy for. We provided Christmas gifts for the foster kids & contacted the Spero project to get an emergency food package. I found a volunteer to deliver the food before the weekend & another family contacted me with hopes of directly connecting with a foster family so I told them about the teacher & they jumped on board to help with presents for ALL the children in the home which helped the teacher to have some margin (including a walmart gift card to help w/necessities) to get thru to the next payday. She would be considered a kinship placement & although the children could be placed with her before everything was final, she will not be receiving any reimbursement from the state until her foster care classes were complete & her home study approved (this can take up to 9 months, trust me, I know 1st hand).
We had a great financial response and made a great effort to help catch any new/incoming kids. In this effort we (me w/the help of my friend, Jill blue) contacted all the shelters in the state. I met a few at toysRus one day & a few more at Walmart the next. Jill shopped online & delivered gifts (w/a few other volunteers) to area shelters. One night she and her family delivered to the mid/del shelter (owned by mid/del PD) there was a large man who works the night shift and was helping to unload the gifts and he was unable to hold the tears back when he saw what was provided for the kids!
Another story is in the form of a letter that the giver had written to the teen in foster care who he was buying for. The teen & giver shared a love for OU sports & the giver had decided to add one more gift for the teen which was a football signed by 4 OU legends & was one of the givers most prized possessions.
There are so many more stories to tell! I'm going to try to capture as many as possible to share throughout the year! Stories of caseworkers emotional toll being lifted & the smile on the tiny teen (16yo) mom's face when I told her she could choose what we bought for her 3 mo. old daughter!