Foster Night Out on The Town

A little bit ago I blogged about what the Mister and I were planning on doing for Christmas. This post is part one of our two part Christmas plans for the teens in the Salt Lake foster program. Just so you know, we have chosen the foster TEENS because they are often the most overlooked population when it comes to the holidays. People usually think kids, homeless, families with little children, etc. We wanted these kids to have a Christmas they would always remember.

November 30th we are planning a night that very few of these kids have ever experienced up to this point in their lives...A night out on the town! Complete with dressing up for a dinner at a restaurant downtown followed by attending our local professional dance company's Christmas performance of It's a Wonderful Life. Tammy, the volunteer coordinator for Division of Youth Services said, "Most of these kids have never even had a chance to eat out at a real restaurant outside of fast food! They will love to have a chance to get dressed up, put on make-up and practice some real-life etiquette." Keep in mind, once these youth turn 18, they "age-out" of the system. This means they don't have a home with a family and they no longer can participate with the State. For some, this may be their only chance at a night like this.

After that first blog, most of you wanted to know how you could help. Here's what is entailed with Part I:

1) Odyssey Dance Company has granted us the tickets needed for EVERYONE!!! (By the way if you haven't seen their THRILLER performance, there is still time! You won't be disappointed.)

2) Transportation is all squared away thanks to the awesome Recreation Therapist at the group home.

3) My awesome talentad Mother-In-Law will be creating a fancy invitation to be delivered about a week before the big event.

HERE'S WHAT'S LEFT TO BE DONE

4) Buying and creating gift bags to be enjoyed during the performance complete with: bottled water and a couple of sweet treats.

5) Finding a local restaurant to host 30 Teens plus 8 volunteers for a tasty meal. We are shooting for the moon in hoping they might donate the food, or possible give it to us at cost. If not, bring on the fund raising.

Here's an itemized break-down of items 4, 5. If you think you can help with any of it, leave a comment and/or email me at: kristinbhodson@gmail.com

* 30 Bottles of water (Costco) - DONE
* 30 Decorative Sacks
* 30 Movie Size Candy Bars - DONE
* 30 Movie Size Sour or Sweet Candies such as: Dots, Sour Patch Kids, Etc. DONE
* Helping to locate a restaurant in the Salt Lake Valley, the closer to Downtown the
better.


Want to participate in our Foster Teen Christmas? Be watching for the post detailing how YOU can get involved :) We are going to provide Christmas for 30 foster teens, giving them a Christmas they'll never forget. The cost? A mere $100 per teen. If we get many involved it could only cost each person what it would cost for a family to head to Cafe Rio for dinner. Most of the years, the staff are having to snag overflow from their child home in order to provide Christmas for their teen home. Do something great this year and join us!