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TO OUR SEARCY LIVING FAMILY As you may know, foster children have always had a special place in my heart. It hurts me to know that 97 White County children are in foster care at the time of this letter, mostly as a result of abuse or neglect. After learning more about "the system," I recently became aware of a special need in our community. When a foster child first comes into state custody, they often have very few or no belongings other than the clothing on their backs. Some children are placed in foster homes that are long term situations and the foster parents are able to shop for their needs. However, many children go into emergency shelters or temporary foster placements and move several times in a short period. The situations vary from child to child. But the bottom line is, it can be a slow process to accumulate belongings when starting from the beginning. While driving to the office one morning, I became angry about the injustice of it all. I knew about several situations that really bothered me and had been praying for God to take the hole in my heart and either heal it or use the pain to motivate and inspire me to do something to help these children. The thought went through my mind of how awesome it would be to have a central location where case workers and foster parents could make one stop to get whatever the children needed. I had thought about this solution before and had noticed how many buildings in Searcy were either used only a couple of times a week or completely vacant. Why couldn't we find some donated space for this project? I was so sure that once started, the White County community (and especially our Searcy Living Magazine Family) would help with this project. Then an incredibly obvious solution occurred to me with such intensity that I knew it was an answer to that prayer that I had fervently prayed, "God take this hole in my heart and if you are not going to heal it, then use it to inspire a way to help." The solution? We had an empty office space at the Searcy Living business office! I usually rent it out, but it had been vacant for several months. Our office is just a few blocks from the DHS office, which would make it convenient for case workers to stop by and for foster parents to find. I pulled into the Searcy Living parking lot that day and even before getting out of my car I knew that the first obstacles would be setting up the room to be store-like and then decorating it to be a child friendly atmosphere. The first thing that came to mind (knowing that interior decorating is way out of my area of expertise) was to call Harding University. I called Liz Howell and told her about this new project that had just come into being in the fifteen minute drive to the office. Liz told me that she was sure that she knew someone who could help and that she would call back. Sure enough, a few minutes later, she called back with the number of Becky Moore, the Home Furnishing class instructor at Harding University. Becky was onboard with the project! When the class came by the office several days later, I gave them a two to three week time frame and an almost non-existent budget. After planning, hard work and a few donations, the results (as you can see from the pictures) are amazing! During that time, I spoke to as many Searcy Living advertisers as I could and by the time the students had the room ready, it was already full of donations! I know that it will take continued participation of volunteer efforts and donations to keep this going. So if you are interested in helping, please come back to our website for ways that you can help. We will feature a current list of immediate needs and updates. Here are a few ideas that we have come up with if you would like to participate: • Have each employee bring a donation item to work. For example, everyone can bring a package of socks or underwear for children (ages 0-17.) • Your business can donate an item from your store or a service gift certificate. For example, a hair cut gift certificate would be very useful. There are so many White County children that need our help, so if this story touched your heart, then I am asking you to say a simple prayer that I know will be answered: "Lord, take this pain. This hole in my heart. Inspire and use me to make a difference." You, our faithful Searcy Living readers and advertisers, are an extension of my family; you are a part of my life every day! And, I look forward to working with you as our partner on this project. *Please note that donations are not tax deductible. Thank you for reading Searcy Living Magazine! Christine Walker, Publisher Read More Stories |
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