This was the topic on the back of my bulletin in church today. It was encouraging the congregation to sponsor a child in need. It wasn’t my church specifically, but rather our denomination. I belong to the United Church of Christ and we are very mission based.

However, I had a bit of a problem with the message since kids in the United States were not mentioned at all. Don’t get me wrong, I know full well that kids all around the world need help. We send supplies to orphanages in Haiti and Honduras, but we also support kids here in the U.S.

I know some people are going to get mad at me about this post, but my own personal feeling is that we don’t do enough to inform our nation about how many kids in the U.S. actually need our help. There are over 500,000 kids in foster care each year, and who knows how many that are homeless or living at or below the poverty level. How many of the kids that attend your child’s school are coming to school hungry? More than you realize.

Let’s think about this for a minute. There are 500,000 kids on average in foster care each year. Where were those kids before they entered foster care? They were in abusive, neglectful or possibly poverty striken homes. What if someone had stepped up and “sponsored” one of these kids? What if someone had helped out with groceries, or bought birthday gifts for the kids? I’m not saying that it would have fixed all the problems for these kids, but it might have been a start toward keeping a family intact.

One of my friends work in a homeless shelter for women and children. Many of the women there have kids in foster care and they are trying to get back on their feet and get their kids back. Why can’t we step in ahead of time and prevent this child from having to enter foster care in the first place? Wouldn’t that be better for the whole family?

I spend the weekend with my friend, Bonnie, about every six weeks since we attend bible study out of town together. When we talk about her job, what the moms need, and how to help the kids, it’s always something very simple that we can do. There are about eight or ten of us who have formed a “group” and when Bonnie tells us what we need, we step up and help them out.

So, what kind of things does she ask for?

Swim suits and Flip flops – They receive many types of clothes, but these are not usually among them.

Craft supplies – Kids love to do crafts, but when running a shelter on a shoe string budget, craft supplies are a luxury.

Birthday bag – Many of the moms would like to make a birthday cake for their child, but don’t have the supplies to do it, so thinks like a cake mix, frosting, candles and cake decorations are appreciated.

Job clothes for the moms – For the moms that do have clothing, it is usually not appropriate for interviewing or for wearing to a job.

None of these things are hard for most of us to do, but we don’t know the need exists or how to help. Shelters are hard to find, since most of them don’t list their addresses in the phone book, but you can ask your foster care or adoption worker. Chances are they are very familiar with these shelters.

The things do not have to be brand new either. When Mackenzie left our home, I donated some of her things to a battered women’s shelter. I have lost a lot of weight in the past few months (YAY me!) and I am donating my clothes that no longer fit to an organization that benefits both the homeless shelter and the battered women’s shelter. They are “dressier” clothes so they will help the moms get a good job and get back on their feet.

See if you can find opportunities to help out kids in your community. Trust me, there are plenty of kids who need us.

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