Give Monterey County foster children the gift of giving

It's that time of the year when everyone exchanges gifts. For children in foster care, the ritual is complicated by the fact that they have no money, so if they want to express their affection to loved ones, they may be in a pickle.

With that in mind, Voices for Children CASA will turn a room in its office into a "shop" in December so about 150 children in foster care can come and "buy" gifts for their loved ones.

Here's where the public (you!) comes in. Voices of Children needs items donated for the children to come and shop for. They need donations of new, unwrapped gifts. They especially need items that are appropriate for teens and adults.

Some of the items they would like to receive: 
• Home decor items such as photo frames, calendars, and candles
• Men and women’s clothing accessories, such as hats, scarves, gloves, socks
• Sports items, small tool kits, fun car accessories
• Toiletry items such as cologne, nail polish, lotion, makeup kits
• Gift cards for grocery stores, local movie theaters, eateries, or department stores. Suggested minimum gift card amount is $25
• Gift wrap, ribbons, bows, and cards - they set up a wrapping station for the children to wrap the gifts themselves!  Unwrapped, unused holiday wrapping paper accepted

Please drop gift items as soon as possible and no later than Friday, December 11 at any of the following locations:

Voices for Children, 945 S. Main Street, Suite 107, Salinas
Bank of America, 405 Main Street, Salinas
Dawn’s Dream Winery, San Carlos Street, Carmel-by-the-Sea
State Farm Insurance, 439 Tyler Street, Monterey (closed 12 – 1pm
Monterey Museum of Art, 720 Via Mirada, Monterey

• You can also donate cash for the Gift of Giving Campaign. Mail your contribution to the Voices for Children office at VFC-CASA, 945 S. Main Street, Suite 107, Salinas, CA. Mark you donation “GOG, 2015”

Without your donations, most of the children have no way to acquire gifts. Participating in Gift of Giving helps teach the children how to give and provides them an opportunity to express their affection for those around them.