Book Drive for Foster Families

We are starting to prepare for our little guys departure. I still don't know when or how that is going to look 100% but we have some pretty good ideas. Our little guy has been having facetime visits with family out of province for the past 2 months and has met them twice back in July. He doesn't understand the idea he won't be with us forever quite yet and I am not sure he will understand until we do the handoff. I have been trying to think of ways to support this transition. How can we explain to him how we will love him no matter where he is? How can we help him understand that our family will be here for him no matter how far away he is? How can I foster his memories of our time together? Well this leads me to my BIG idea!

I am a huge reader. I look for theme books to match what the kids and I are doing all the time. They help articulate to my kids things I myself can't seem to put into words. I've been telling our little guy how much we care for him and how much we love him since day one, but I wanted something for him to take with him to his new home. Another form of expression to help show our love for him. In my search I found the two perfect books!

The first book is I’ll Love you from Right Here”. This book was written by a foster parent named Jamie Sandefer. She has done an amazing job at showing some of the emotions a child will experience in foster care. She writes about how whether the child is scared or lonely the foster parent is waiting and ready to love on that child. The book also has space to write about the child and memories from their time together in that foster home. It also has an envelope where you can put different mementos or treasures for the child.

The second book is “The Invisible String.” This book helps children see we are all connected by what the author calls an Invisible String, a connection of love we can’t see but we can feel no matter where we are in the world. This is exactly the message children who are leaving a familiar home to go somewhere new need to hear. They need to hear they are loved and connected with their people no matter where they go.

Once I found these books I knew I wanted foster parents to have them ready and at their disposal. Foster parents don’t always know when a child is coming or going. How awesome would it be for them to have some on hand so when a child does leave they can sit down and express their love for that child and hopefully provide some comfort in a really challenging and scary time. I love books. I love the bond and the connection books create with children. I love how they can tear down walls of fear and can provide a moment of solace for a person. They help us to imagine other worlds and they can help us understand things we might not have understood before.

Will you join with me in raising funds to buy some books for the foster families in our community? I would love to provide these books for these families at Christmas. Right now in the Southwest Region of Saskatchewan we have 9 foster homes. My goal is to raise enough money by November 8th, 2020 to purchase each book for each child in care. I also hope to purchase 2 of each book for the foster families so the books are on hand for future children in their homes. We have 14 children in care right now in southwest Saskatchewan. (This number fluctuates but when I asked in October 2020 this was the current number). The first goal is to raise $650. If we can surpass this goal, I will make sure these books make it to other foster families in other areas of the province as well.

To make your donation go to gf.me/u/y6i48g -> this is the gofundme page!

Come join the Powell family as we support foster families and foster children in this way.