National Make A Difference Day, held on the fourth Saturday in October, is a day where millions of Americans unite to do good for others and better lives by volunteering throughout the community. At embrella, we see people who make a difference every day. We call them foster parents.
It’s a day where everyone is asked to volunteer to improve lives.
Created in 1992 by USA Weekend Magazine, Make A Difference Day is an annual community service event that sees millions of people across the U.S. volunteer for community service in hopes of bettering lives.
It’s a good day where people forget about themselves for awhile to help a greater cause. But here at FAFS, we know people who selflessly give up their time, their homes and their love to people they have never met. And they do it every day.
We call them foster parents.
They’re people who go through a rigorous and exhaustive licensing process that involves changing their homes to fit certain codes. They reveal their personal, professional and family background to the state in order to prove that they’ll be responsible caregivers.
And they do it all for people they have never met.
They do it for boys like J. who had to overcome physical disabilities with years of physical therapy all because his parents abused drugs while he was in the womb. They do it for boys like A. who suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his family. They do it for girls like Q. who spent her childhood feeling like no one cared or believed in her.
They do it because they care. They take in the community’s abused and neglected children and do everything in their power to change the course of their lives. Whether it means introducing a little girl to dance lessons or taking a boy to soccer practice, these foster parents devote their lives to these children.
They do it because they believe that every child deserves a chance to hope, to dream and to experience the joys of childhood.
They do it to make a difference.
That is why our mission here at FAFS is to provide support, training and advocacy to meet the special needs of these foster, adoptive and kinship families that are making a positive difference in their everyday lives.
We understand not everyone can be a foster parent. But that doesn’t mean you can’t help be part of changing a child’s life forever. Donate today.
Author: Lloyd Nelson, FAFS Digital Media Manager
Lloyd Nelson is the Digital Media Manager of Foster and Adoptive Family Services. He can be reached at lnelson@fafsonline.org.