Ladies, here is something I think we can all get excited about and would be happy to attend. I know I could find child care for this!

In Catoosa County, Georgia, single women went to a fundraiser where they bid on a date with a bachelor. The money raised went to the Catoosa Foster and Adoptive Parent Association.

Now I know what you’re thinking – you’re married. Yes, I am but I’m not thinking of a date. I’m thinking of the “honey do list” I have that’s a mile long. Give me a man with a tool belt and I’m in heaven.

The dates went for between $80 and $340. I’d happily pay $80 for someone to come and do some housework for me. Even more wonderful is that the bachelors ranged in age from 25 to 80. All in all, the auction raised more than $4000.

So, what is the money to go toward? Catoosa Foster and Adoptive Parent Association is a non-profit group that helps to recruit and support foster and adoptive parents. With the shortage of foster homes that exists, this is a wonderful thing.

The auction had a former foster child deliver a speech about her experience in foster care. Vanessa White (not the actress) entered foster care when she was six years old. She bounced through the system for a few years until she met a foster mother who kept her until she aged out of the system. She considers her foster mom her “real” mom.

The story of her biological family is not unusual. Her biological mother was an alcoholic and drug addict, and she doesn’t know who her father is. She was caregiver to her two younger brothers.

The happy ending of this story is that Ms. White ended up getting a basketball scholarship to University of Alabama – Birmingham and now teaches special education at a high school in Georgia. Who better to teach special needs kids than an adult who has been through the system? She can identify with the kids in ways the rest of us can’t begin to. She is also pursuing her masters in special education.

There are good stories in foster care. Anyone want to do a bachelor auction? Guys are you willing to be auctioned off?

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