Santa's elves busy Helping foster children
Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 5:02 am
Santa's elves busy Helping foster children
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - By LATINA EMERSON - The Times-Herald - content.times-herald.com
Santa's elves have begun their hustle and bustle to gather Christmas gifts for Coweta County's foster children.
Beginning last week, toys and other items were brought from miles around to the "Secret Santa Shop" in Coweta County. The gifts will be placed under the tree to brighten the holiday season of eager girls and boys throughout the county.
For more than 20 years, the Coweta County Department of Family and Children Services, DFCS, and volunteers have worked to ensure children in the Coweta County foster care system have a Merry Christmas. The children are given the chance to complete a "Christmas Wish List" and sponsors throughout the county provide the items to make these holiday dreams come true.
According to Frances Smith, a volunteer with the Christmas wish list fund-raiser — also known as the "Joy Project," Coweta is one of few counties in the state that provides any type of Christmas for foster children. In Georgia, there is no money in the budget for Christmas gifts, she said.
This year, Smith and her husband Henry are supervising the Joy Project. The Smiths have served as foster parents since 1996, providing homes for more than 100 foster children.
Frances Smith has worked with the holiday program for eight years. She said Nadine Gaddy and Kathy Broadwater have been working with the project for 20-plus years.
Volunteers for the 2006 Joy Project include Adrian Smith; Alma Duke, a retired DFCS employee who worked as bookkeeper for 34 years; Sonny Duke; Gail Coffee; and Rhett McCorkle, wife of Bill McCorkle, director of the Coweta DFACS. Newnan businessman Bill Headley donated the facility for the "Secret Santa Shop" at one of his properties. Headley also donated heat, water and restrooms for the entire month.
"We will provide items for 600-plus in the county — 450 children and 150 adults from DFCS," said Smith. More than 200 of the recipients will be foster children, she said.
The total includes all children in the Coweta County foster care system, whether placed within the county or out-of-county, and all ongoing cases with Child Protective Services, CPS, in the county. Also, items are provided for elderly adults through Coweta County Adult Protective Services, APS.
Each foster child is given a "wish list" and is asked to name three toys he or she would like for Christmas. The child also lists their clothing and shoe sizes. "Most of the time, they buy everything on the list," said Smith. Other times, if there are remaining items on the child's list, the volunteers will use donated items from other sources to fill the child's holiday bag.
"If it's at all possible, we try not to only give them what was given by the sponsor. We try to give them the maximum we can give them," said Smith. "They're jam-packed with toys, clothes and even shoes if we have them. For most of these kids, this is all they'll get," she said.
In many instances, the wish lists for teenagers are often not filled and sponsors provide gift cards so the teenagers can select the items they would like, said Smith. Adults are provided with much-needed items such as comforters, pillows, clothing, gift cards for the grocery store, slippers and razors. Coweta County Adult Protective Services welcomes donations this holiday season, said Yolanda Colton, APS case manager.
Case workers will begin this week gathering the items to deliver to group homes and foster homes located outside the county. "We try to get their lists ready first so we can make sure they get their gifts in time for Christmas," said Smith. Then, the remaining gifts are delivered to foster parents in Coweta County to place under the tree on Christmas morning.
On Friday, the Joy Project received gifts for more than 200 children and adults from one of its big sponsors, the Sharpsburg Post Office. Each year, post office employees and Sharpsburg residents sponsor children or seniors during the holiday season. Postal employees deliver notices to every home about the fund-raiser. Residents indicate how many people they would like to sponsor and promptly return the notice. Last year, the Sharpsburg post office region sponsored more than 350 seniors and children in the community.
This year, Sharpsburg postal employee Jennifer Lovitt and her husband Thomas Lovitt and children Evan and Trey unloaded trucks filled with donations for the DFCS foster project. They were assisted by postal employee Bill Madden. Jennifer Lovitt has been participating with the fund-raiser for eight years.
"We send over 5,000 mailers out," said Lovitt. "We just want to help out and this is one way we can do it," she said. She noted that Sharpsburg employees Kim Whitlock and Ann Kerlin also helped with the event.
Bill Madden has assisted for the past six years. "I'm impressed every year with how generous people are," he said.
Talisha Smith, a resident of Hampton, Ga., journeyed all the way to Newnan to make a donation. Each year, Smith and a group of former employees participate in the fund-raiser. They supplied items for 15 children. "We all pitched in and got just about all of the toys, and we got clothes as well," she said. "We all get together at the end of the year and complete a community service project. This has always been our project," said Smith.
On Saturday, Dr. Tuan Truong and Newnan Family Chiropractic held a motorcycle ride to assist the fund-raiser, with toys required for entry. At the end of the ride, participants were greeted with a cookout at the chiropractic office. A group of Atlanta Hawks tickets were auctioned at the event and they were donated to Smith and her foster children. "I just want people to know how much we appreciate what they do," said Smith.
For more information on donating to the Joy Project, contact Frances Smith at 770-683-9217. To make donations to Coweta County Adult Protective Services, contact Yolanda Colton at 678-423-4570.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - By LATINA EMERSON - The Times-Herald - content.times-herald.com
Santa's elves have begun their hustle and bustle to gather Christmas gifts for Coweta County's foster children.
Beginning last week, toys and other items were brought from miles around to the "Secret Santa Shop" in Coweta County. The gifts will be placed under the tree to brighten the holiday season of eager girls and boys throughout the county.
For more than 20 years, the Coweta County Department of Family and Children Services, DFCS, and volunteers have worked to ensure children in the Coweta County foster care system have a Merry Christmas. The children are given the chance to complete a "Christmas Wish List" and sponsors throughout the county provide the items to make these holiday dreams come true.
According to Frances Smith, a volunteer with the Christmas wish list fund-raiser — also known as the "Joy Project," Coweta is one of few counties in the state that provides any type of Christmas for foster children. In Georgia, there is no money in the budget for Christmas gifts, she said.
This year, Smith and her husband Henry are supervising the Joy Project. The Smiths have served as foster parents since 1996, providing homes for more than 100 foster children.
Frances Smith has worked with the holiday program for eight years. She said Nadine Gaddy and Kathy Broadwater have been working with the project for 20-plus years.
Volunteers for the 2006 Joy Project include Adrian Smith; Alma Duke, a retired DFCS employee who worked as bookkeeper for 34 years; Sonny Duke; Gail Coffee; and Rhett McCorkle, wife of Bill McCorkle, director of the Coweta DFACS. Newnan businessman Bill Headley donated the facility for the "Secret Santa Shop" at one of his properties. Headley also donated heat, water and restrooms for the entire month.
"We will provide items for 600-plus in the county — 450 children and 150 adults from DFCS," said Smith. More than 200 of the recipients will be foster children, she said.
The total includes all children in the Coweta County foster care system, whether placed within the county or out-of-county, and all ongoing cases with Child Protective Services, CPS, in the county. Also, items are provided for elderly adults through Coweta County Adult Protective Services, APS.
Each foster child is given a "wish list" and is asked to name three toys he or she would like for Christmas. The child also lists their clothing and shoe sizes. "Most of the time, they buy everything on the list," said Smith. Other times, if there are remaining items on the child's list, the volunteers will use donated items from other sources to fill the child's holiday bag.
"If it's at all possible, we try not to only give them what was given by the sponsor. We try to give them the maximum we can give them," said Smith. "They're jam-packed with toys, clothes and even shoes if we have them. For most of these kids, this is all they'll get," she said.
In many instances, the wish lists for teenagers are often not filled and sponsors provide gift cards so the teenagers can select the items they would like, said Smith. Adults are provided with much-needed items such as comforters, pillows, clothing, gift cards for the grocery store, slippers and razors. Coweta County Adult Protective Services welcomes donations this holiday season, said Yolanda Colton, APS case manager.
Case workers will begin this week gathering the items to deliver to group homes and foster homes located outside the county. "We try to get their lists ready first so we can make sure they get their gifts in time for Christmas," said Smith. Then, the remaining gifts are delivered to foster parents in Coweta County to place under the tree on Christmas morning.
On Friday, the Joy Project received gifts for more than 200 children and adults from one of its big sponsors, the Sharpsburg Post Office. Each year, post office employees and Sharpsburg residents sponsor children or seniors during the holiday season. Postal employees deliver notices to every home about the fund-raiser. Residents indicate how many people they would like to sponsor and promptly return the notice. Last year, the Sharpsburg post office region sponsored more than 350 seniors and children in the community.
This year, Sharpsburg postal employee Jennifer Lovitt and her husband Thomas Lovitt and children Evan and Trey unloaded trucks filled with donations for the DFCS foster project. They were assisted by postal employee Bill Madden. Jennifer Lovitt has been participating with the fund-raiser for eight years.
"We send over 5,000 mailers out," said Lovitt. "We just want to help out and this is one way we can do it," she said. She noted that Sharpsburg employees Kim Whitlock and Ann Kerlin also helped with the event.
Bill Madden has assisted for the past six years. "I'm impressed every year with how generous people are," he said.
Talisha Smith, a resident of Hampton, Ga., journeyed all the way to Newnan to make a donation. Each year, Smith and a group of former employees participate in the fund-raiser. They supplied items for 15 children. "We all pitched in and got just about all of the toys, and we got clothes as well," she said. "We all get together at the end of the year and complete a community service project. This has always been our project," said Smith.
On Saturday, Dr. Tuan Truong and Newnan Family Chiropractic held a motorcycle ride to assist the fund-raiser, with toys required for entry. At the end of the ride, participants were greeted with a cookout at the chiropractic office. A group of Atlanta Hawks tickets were auctioned at the event and they were donated to Smith and her foster children. "I just want people to know how much we appreciate what they do," said Smith.
For more information on donating to the Joy Project, contact Frances Smith at 770-683-9217. To make donations to Coweta County Adult Protective Services, contact Yolanda Colton at 678-423-4570.