Gift Cards for Bras

For the second year we are collecting gift cards for girls in foster care for Christmas. The gift cards to local retailers allow the high schoolers to get bras and other personal items they need. There are three ways to donate:

1. Send your gift cards to LTHF, PO Box 934, Colorado Springs, CO 80901

2. Donate and specify it’s for bras


3. If you live in Colorado Springs, let us know and we can arrange a time to meet and collect the gift cards

Engaging with The Hanger

Our heart is helping those in foster care is one of care and prevention. Sometimes kids enter the foster care system from either domestic violence or sexual abuse situations. They are without their families and often split up from their siblings. As kids mature, there are less and less homes available for them, so they end up in facilities that were created for teen offenders, not kids without a home. We institutionalize our children and leave them in homes where further abuse and neglect can happen. But there are bright spots in the foster care system – organizations like CASA advocate on behalf of the child and provide the stability and care most of the children don’t get otherwise. Our hope is that if we can affect kids in foster care we can not only stop generational domestic violence, but create safe places so kids don’t runaway and become susceptible to traffickers and other predators. So much in the cycle of violence, abuse and neglect could be ended if we had better foster care with more loving homes ready to take in one or two children and stick it out with them. Currently only 3% of those in foster care go to college. If we had mentors in the foster care system, people to engage and stay with a teen, to be there for them and provide the stability of an adult in their life, we could increase that number!

How does that relate to clothes and cowboy boots? One of the biggest ways to fight the stigma for kids in foster care is to help them experience normal activities other kids don’t have to think about. Teens in foster care are given a $90 stipend for clothes when they are 13 or 14. That’s it! After that the teen better hope someone in the house left behind clothes or they go through high school with one outfit or don’t go at all. By providing clothing to The Hanger we are giving high schoolers a way to build their wardrobe and hopefully stay in school.

It’s the little things that we can do. If being able to get a prom dress means a girl will get to experience that night and feel a bit more like her friends (who never have a consideration for new clothes, shoes, etc. because of their home situation) that is incredible. It is a step – a small but vital step.

Join us in coming alongside those in foster care. Donate here.

What We’ve Been Doing

Over the last year two Boy Scouts have approached us to help with their Eagle project. In both cases we asked them to create bags for The Milton Foster Children’s Fund. The first did 24 duffle bags, complete with a fleece blanket, a flashlight, a deck of cards and other fun items. The second made over 40 drawstring backpacks. They also donated school supplies, right at the time the teens were getting ready to go back to school.

Our donations have increased since the opening of The Hanger earlier this year. The Hanger is a shop specifically for teenagers in the foster care system in Teller and El Paso County. Any child 14-21 who needs to can come in on a Saturday and trade work time for items. It is an incredible way for teens to get clothing, shoes, and other supplies they need as well as experience working in a retail environment. Since the start of the year we have donated backpacks, clothes and duffle bags to The Hanger as well as granting some specific wishes for cowboy boots and a full length mirror. We were also able to provide food for a fun event The Hanger hosted for the teenagers thanks to a generous donor!

It’s been a busy few months over there at LTHF. We’ve had the amazing opportunity to work with a variety of groups within our community and have been able to deliver supplies to our partner agencies around town.

To help us provide more wishes and items our partner organizations needs donate here.

Playground

In April we screened Playground in hopes of starting the conversation about the exploitation of children in our community.

Playground follows the filmmaker's quest to find Michelle, a girl trafficked to Canada when she was 12. Michelle was found and sent to live with a foster care family, but ran away and was re-trafficked several more times. While the filmmaker shares her quest, the film does an excellent job of discussing just what is happening in our country.

Playground looks at the reality that the exploitation of children is not just an international problem, but one we must start discussing in real terms here is the U.S.

We were privileged to have a panel of local experts to discuss the issue. We had a forensic nurse speak to the trends they see in the ER, a CASA advocate on the role (both positive and negative) foster care can play, a major voice in the anti-trafficking movement on what can be done. A local FBI victims' specialist gave a broader perspective, and finally Colorado AG John Suthers spoke about what his priorities are related to this issue.

It was a hard night, yet in the end everyone felt more empowered to do something. It was a step that we hope to build upon in 2013.

Unlikely Alliances

We were blessed this year to make contact with two Eagle Scouts! When they heard about LTHF and what we do, especially through Her Shoes they were excited to partner with us for the Eagle Scout Project.

T. decided to focus on the foster children's fund and what the kids need when they change homes. He collected 24 duffel bags and over 60 fleece blankets!

S. wanted to collect Christmas gifts for the older boys in foster care. He did 20 bags with games, socks, etc. in them.

It is the smallest acts that can have the most powerful impact. It is the things we do for people we will never meet that can create the greatest impressions. It is hard to imagine that a 16 year old boy only wants new socks and other basic amenities for Christmas, but for kids who have so little, a bag of supplies just for them can make all the difference.

And the impact doesn't only affect those who receive the gifts. The ability to discuss what we do and why we collect these items impacted the scouts as well.


If you have someone who has a service project for a church, school assignment or organization, please let us know!

Help a Foster Care Child This Christmas

We are teaming up with the Foster Children's Fund to collect Christmas gifts for teenagers in the Foster Care system.

Most teens in the USA spend $1,000 a year on clothing!!!

Teens in the Foster Care System are given a ONE TIME clothing stipend of $87. The teenagers need basic items such as:

• Clothing
• Toiletries
• Nail Polish, hair ties, etc. 
• Sport Items
• Pajamas
• Socks
• Gift Cards to Target and Walmart to get underwear 

We are also looking for businesses in the area that would be willing to help us in our efforts to ensure these teenagers get what they need.

Want to help out? Email letthemhavefaces(at)gmail(dot)com. We will be collecting items through the middle of December.