Pebble Beach at Stanford helping children in need

Emma Morgan of Pebble Beach helped organize a charity run that took place Oct. 15 and raises $40,000 to benefit foster youth in California. The race is a 32-year tradition of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority at Stanford University.

The race is called ThetaBreakers and benefits Child Advocates of Silicon Valley. The nonprofit agency recruits, trains and supports Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) to work one-on-one with foster children in Santa Clara County. This year, Child Advocates hopes to serve 920 foster children with a CASA volunteer. For the past 32 years, the Stanford Thetas have supported Child Advocates to impact the lives of foster children.

“The Stanford students organizing this run change lives,” said in a statement Karen Scussel, executive director of Child Advocates of Silicon Valley. “The Thetas are an organization of women committed to spreading the widest influence for good and they’ve been wonderful supporters of Child Advocates through their fundraisers and countless volunteer hours. As state funding for CASA programs declines, we are extremely thankful for the Theta’s unwavering support to help us provide a CASA for our community’s most vulnerable children."

Credit: Tyler Sabree Cloyd

Foster care organizations honored

Four organizations that provide services for children in the foster care system were honored by the Monterey County Board of Education for their support of these young people and their role in their development. Voices for Children CASA, Peacock Acres, Door to Hope, and The Epicenter told their mission, success stories, and personal connections to the foster care children and youth in Monterey Count during a ceremony on Tuesday. Two high school students who have been in foster care shared their emotional stories of experiencing numerous home placements and overcoming obstacles as they found self-confidence and success.

National Foster Care Awareness Month is a month set aside to acknowledge foster parents, family members, volunteers, mentors, policymakers, child welfare professionals, and other members of the community who help children in foster care find permanent homes, healthy connections, and the resources to lead a successful and rewarding life.

Teressa Jimenez, Director of Development and Jasmine Flanagan, Therapeutic Learning Center Educational Coordinator from Peacock Acres share their mission and success stories during a ceremony on Tuesday at the Monterey County Office of Education.

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.

Twenty intrepid climbers go up Mt. Shasta for foster youth

Next week, 20 climbers will brave Mt. Shasta to raise funds for two organizations that lobby on behalf of foster youth.

One of the climbers is my kid, the brave and tenacious Heidi Moran. But that's not the only reason I'm writing about this.

Over the years I've learned about the difficulties children in foster care have to endure, chief among them having to be separated from their families -- as bad as they could be, it's all these children know, and often it's an ordeal for them to start anew with a different family or a group home.

But having to be away from their families is just the beginning of a long journey. Many face tremendous challenges to graduate from high school and college; much higher than the hurdles faced by youth who have the support of their next of kin. Yet, many go on to successful, fulfilling careers.

Organizers say they chose climbing Mt. Shasta as a fundraiser not just because one of their leaders is a climbing enthusiast. Going up a volcano is a good metaphor for the mountains foster youth have to conquer.

“You get to see people experiencing the mountain for the first time, putting on crampons, wearing a headlamp,” said Heather Matheson, outreach associate for Fostering Media Connections and a coordinator for the climb. “As an adult you don't get to do this often, and it gives our youth climbers a chance to channel their drive and resilience to overcome a mountain metaphorically and in reality. They’ve overcome so much and it's an exciting thing to do to build confidence.”

Matheson, who will be on her third climb, said the “Questival” is also a great chance for the adult climbers to be around foster youth, something they may not usually have the opportunity to do. Interestingly, it’s the youth climbers who have more success reaching the top, she said.

“It comes down to resilience,” Matheson said. “It's a huge mental battle and the youth climbers are more than ready for that kind of things.”

The California Youth Connection, a youth-run and led legislative advocacy organization, is composed of hundreds of current and former foster youth who embody the inspirational story of foster care children succeeding. Fostering Media Connections is a non-profit organization that harnesses the power of journalism and media to improve the foster care system. Together, CYC and FMC are helping to give foster youth a platform to make their voices heard. These are the two organizations that will benefit from the "Questival", the fourth annual Mt. Shasta fundraiser

Please consider supporting  these brave souls and their worthy cause. You can find their link here.

It's not too late to sign up for a Turkey Trot

Come work off those Thanksgiving pounds! Sign up for a Turkey Trot to benefit youth in foster care.

Peacock Acres, a non-profit dedicated to supporting foster children in Monterey County, will host the 6th Turkey Trot for foster youth in their program this Saturday, Nov. 30. The event will be held in Manzanita Park at 17100 Castroville Blvd. in Prunedale. Race day registration will begin at 8:30 am and the race will start at 10:00 am.

Race registration costs $30, and all participants receive a t-shirt. Registration is available online here. This is a pet- and family-friendly event, and participants are strongly encouraged to bring their four-legged friends.

Proceeds from the Turkey Trot will benefit a new project, The Learning Center at Peacock Acres. The Learning Center is designed to guide foster youth toward completing their high school requirements and preparing them for independent adult life. The unique educational needs and classroom challenges shared by students in foster care are often overlooked, and the Learning Center will increase the chances for personal fulfillment, economic self- sufficiency, and positive contribution to society in the foster youth who participate. A portion of proceeds from this event will also help us provide holiday gifts for our youth.

Peacock Acres has been providing therapeutic foster care since 1980 and currently operates four residential programs: Therapeutic Group Homes for boys age 7-17; Incarceration to Success for boys ages 16-19; Transitional Housing Placement Program for foster teens ages 16-18; and the Peacock Acres Transitional Housing program for emancipated foster youth ages 18-24. To find out more about our programs and the youth we serve, click here.

CSUMB student offers holiday cheer for foster care children

Emma Ramirez, CSUMB student extraordinaire, garnered a lot of attention earlier this year for a book drive she sponsored to benefit foster care children.

Now, she wants to help foster care children with winter clothing. She's conducting a drive for scarves, gloves, jackets, and all the winter accourterment you can think of.

The drive began this week and ends Dec. 13. Clothes can be dropped off at CSUMB Student Services Building, the dinning commons, or Voices for Children CASA, 945 S. Main St, Salinas. For more information, email Emma at Emramirez@csumb.edu

Lovely to see Emma's still around, keeping up the good work!

Advocates for foster children needed

Voices for Children (formerly known as CASA) has an urgent need for more advocates.

Voices for Children-- CASA which has been serving foster children in Monterey County for 15 years. Its mission is to train and support community volunteers who advocate for abused or neglected children placed in foster care, upholding the children's rights while pursuing a safe and permanent home. CASAs (Court Appointed Special Advocates) speak up for the children’s best interests and build relationships that help restore a child’s trust. CASAs also mentor youth over age 18 as they transition out of foster care into independent living.

Voices for Children - CASA is looking for adults, 21 years and older, in particular men and bi-lingual volunteers to advocate for the best interests of children in the foster care system. Meet the staff and current advocates to learn how you can make a difference in a child's life.

Attend an information session at the Voices for Children office at 945 S. Main Street at Romie in Salinas on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013.

RSVP here or call 831-455-6800. For more information click here.