Foster Children - Grants Pass, Oregon

Foster Children - Grants Pass, Oregon

Could you have imagined spending Christmas in a shelter or foster home as a child?  I can't, but Bea Ryan of Grants Pass can.  Mrs. Ryan is the founder of "Our Foster Kids" and was a Foster Child herself from the time she was 11 until she "aged" out of the foster care system at 18.

Bea was a volunteer for the Make-A-Wish Foundation for eleven years before she founded "Our Foster Kids."  Bea's goal is to "zealously and enthusiastically protect the childhood of each Foster Child we touch" by concentrating on some of the unfulfilled needs of Foster Children, and to raise the community's knowledge about the difficulties that Foster Children must take on.  Bea knows well that these children have great potential to become an essential part of our society, they just need to know that there are people out there that care about them. 

One of the the great ways Bea and her foundation is doing this is trying to make sure that every Foster Child in Josephine County receives a Christmas gift.  "Our Foster Kids" has set up a "Giving Tree" at Sterling Savings Bank, of which Mrs. Ryan is the manager, inside Walmart.  There are still many paper angels on the tree, with the name and age of a child, and a couple of things they would like to have. Mrs. Ryan is coordinating her efforts with Patti Sanford, president-elect of the Josephine County Foster Parent Association, and unfortunately, their donations are down considerably this year, so if you are in a position to help out, please do.

Gifts can be brought to Sterling Savings Bank inside Walmart or any Rural/Metro Fire Department.  They will be collecting presents for Foster Children until Friday, December 18th.