According to Friends of Wednesday’s Child Board Member David Lam,
“Are you excited for this upcoming holiday season? I can already smell the cookies, see the Christmas lights in the neighborhood, and taste the hot chocolate.
“The winter holiday is my favorite time of the year because everyone gets to share it with the people they love the most. We all have friends and family we enjoy being with during this joyous occasion, however, for some children it can be a difficult time of year. Have you ever considered what the holidays mean for the children whom do not have friends and family? Did you know that 1 in 5 kids in foster care will actually be homeless and not even have shelter, let alone have family and friends?
“While I do not understand what it is like to not have a family, I know what it is like to lose a loved one. My father passed when I was 12 and I remember the pain of losing a parent and also all the implications of that. We could no longer afford our home, my mom had to get rid of the business and I fell behind in school. I was one of the lucky ones that had a community of teachers and advisors that pulled me into one on ones and ultimately got me back on track. My sister and I were the first to graduate high school and get into college. I am now working in an exciting field and I also serve on a Board of Directors at age 26. It was that adversity that taught me the importance of consistent support and the role it plays in your success.
“At Friends of Wednesday’s Child, we understand that children are setup for failure because they do not have the support that many of us do. We envision a world where foster care children have the necessary tools to succeed in school, thereby succeeding in life. To do this, we offer programs such as Success in School, where education specialists are hired to help students academically. Foster care children typically move from family to family and school to school but having a consistent specialist can prevent poor performance they may encounter from switching schools frequently.
“To all the MySweetCharity readers out there, I hope this story resonates with you. If it does, I would like to make a couple of requests that may be small to you but is life-altering to others. First, I encourage you to educate yourself about youth in foster care and their unfortunate outcomes. Second, I ask that you visit Friends of Wednesday’s Child to see how we help foster care children succeed. Lastly, support us by making a donation. Your contribution goes to funding our programs so that we can hire more education specialists and get more students enrolled into our programs.”
-By David Lam, Friends of Wednesday’s Child board member
* Graphic and photo provided by Friends of Wednesday's Child