Telegraph Staff Writer
Christmas should be a time of joy, without stress and without worries.
It should also be a time of giving.
This year, 56 children in foster care in this area didn’t have to worry whether they would wake up on Christmas morning and actually find presents under a tree. Their foster families didn’t have to wonder if they had the resources to give the children in their care a special Christmas. All that was taken care of, thanks to the kind hearts and donations of others as part of Christmas for Fosters.
Christmas for Fosters is a Tampa-area effort that expanded to this area this year. It was started in 2017 by Sara Weaver (née Fitzpatrick), a 2006 Bradford High School graduate who lives in Tampa with her husband, Josh, a 2005 BHS graduate. The Weavers became foster parents in May 2016, taking in two brothers, whom they eventually adopted along with their sister.
Starke resident Jenna Hewett (née Cragg), a 2002 BHS graduate, had the opportunity to assist Sarah Weaver with last year’s event.
“She came back to me a little bit later after the event was over and said, ‘I’d really like you to head it up in North Florida.’ We were able to do that this year here,” Hewett said, adding, “Our goal was 50 for the first year. We were able to meet the goal and exceed it a little bit. We were very excited about that.”
Hewett, the North Florida lead, her fellow team members — April Brannon, Shari Green and Shelby Parmenter — and approximately 40 other volunteers worked on wrapping gifts and distributing them. Foster parents picked the gifts at Starke’s LifeSpring Church on Dec. 16.
As the home page on the Christmas for Fosters website (ChristmasForFosters.com) states: “Imagine what it would be like to be a child removed from everything that they’ve ever known to be familiar, including their parents, siblings and environment. Now imagine that it’s Christmastime and hoping that Santa will find you, on top of the fear of the unknown. That is what the holidays are like for most children living in foster care, especially newly removed children.”
The North Florida Christmas for Fosters program gave Christmas joy to children from Bradford and Union counties as well as to some children in Columbia and Duval counties.
“This program provides a full Christmas,” Hewett said. “It’s not just a gift or two. When sponsors take on the responsibility, they are sponsoring their entire Christmas.”
Hewett, who was interviewed for this story on Dec. 16, learned that one of the children who benefitted from the North Florida effort this year was a 7-year-old who had never experienced a Christmas before.
“I can only imagine what his morning’s going to be like when he wakes up and all of these things are there for the first time,” she said.
Christmas for Fosters is a way of helping families that may simply not have the resources to provide the type of Christmas they’d like to for their foster children.
“When you take on foster kids as a foster parent, you are provided with a lot of resources,” Hewett said, “but Christmases, birthdays and those types of things — that’s the responsibility of the foster parent. In a lot of these homes, there are five, six foster kids. I couldn’t imagine, as a foster parent, taking on the responsibility of having to provide Christmas for your own bio children as well as the foster kids you have in your home.”
Besides those who sponsored children and those who volunteered to assist in some way, the local effort benefitted from the generosity of Williams Jewelry, which provided baskets of FinchBerry items, and several area churches. Starke’s First Baptist Church and Cross Church provided baskets of necessities, while Kingsley Lake Baptist Church provided Happy-Birthday-Jesus cards as well as other items. Starke’s Madison Street Baptist Church provided gingerbread-house kits.
Hewett, who grew up in Bradford County and is involved in a lot of community fundraising efforts, knows full well how people in this area can be counted on to make an effort successful, especially one that benefits children.
“I will say, I’m always worried that it’s not going to come together, but I’m never surprised,” Hewett said. “Even though (Bradford County) is small, and even though our resources are not as great as in big areas like Tampa, where Sarah is, when it comes to helping children, or when it comes to lending a hand to people in need, they always step up.”
Sarah Weaver started Christmas for Foster in Tampa with a goal of serving approximately 45 kids that first year. In reality, the inaugural program grew so that it served 96 children.
The numbers have increased every year. More than 477 children benefitted in 2020, while this year’s effort, which included the new North Florida program, resulted in providing Christmas gifts for approximately 540 children. Hewett said the total goal between the two
areas was 500.
When thinking of the scope of Christmas for Fosters that Weaver deals with in Tampa, Hewett laughed and said, “Fifty-six had me worn out.”
It takes a lot of effort, but for Hewett, her team members and those who volunteered to help, it’s worth it. As it has in Tampa, Hewett hopes to see the North Florida program continue to grow. On the morning prior to this year’s distribution, she was already thinking ahead.
“I’m pumped. We’re already in the planning process for next year, thinking how to expand and how to get information out,” Hewett said, adding, “I’m hoping that next year we’ll be able to double the number and hit 100.”
Children in foster care aren’t the only ones who’ll be touched by the effort. Hewett said her own daughters, who are 8 and 11, as well as the children of her team members are seeing just what the Christmas spirit is all about.
“It’s been a great teaching opportunity for them, to say this is the time to not only think about what you’re going to receive, but what you’re going to be able to give to people, especially those who might not have the opportunity to have the same things that you have,” Hewett said.
Christmas for Fosters is summed up in two words: Give joy. If you’d like to learn more about the program, its origins and how you can be a joy giver, please visit ChristmasForFosters.com.
