This year, ForKids will provide Thanksgiving dinner supplies for approximately 200 families and new toys for approximately 750 children.

For donation drop off times and wish lists, please download a flyer:
Thanksgiving>> | Holiday Shop>>

If you would like to volunteer, please visit our website for more information: Volunteers>>

SWEA REVITALIZES A
ForKids APARTMENT

   With a maximum stay of 120 days in our emergency shelter, families will sometimes need more time to achieve the stability necessary to find permanent housing. Families in this situation may be eligible for the ForKids Transitional Housing program which offers the same wrap around services with increased independence.

  Moving in to a transitional apartment is a momentous occasion for a ForKids family. Fortunately, ForKids has volunteers that go the extra mile to make the transition truly special. On October 12, 2009, the Swedish Women's Educational Association (SWEA) took it upon themselves to decorate and furnish a ForKids apartment (shown to the left) for a mother and her new born son.

NAVY GROUP SAVES
ForKids $1,000

Often, maintenance jobs need to be done and ForKids has to foot the bill. With 13 properties, it happens more than we would like. When the floors needed to be replaced in a Morgan Place transitional apartment, we thought for sure we would be pulling out the checkbook. Once again, our volunteers came to the rescue! Our dedicated NAVY volunteers rose to the occasion and worked for two days to remove the carpeting, saving ForKids more than $1,000.00 in labor costs.

GIRL SCOUTS CLEAN AND ORGANIZE OUR FORMER
OFFICE SPACE

In the past year, ForKids' service capacity has increased by 84%. As we continue to expand to meet the needs in our community, space at our administrative facilities is becoming scarce. Our former office space at 4000 Colley has become vital for the storage of donations for our families. ForKids families earn vouchers by reaching certain milestones and performing chores that they can be used to "purchase" donated items. We are most appreciative of our volunteers that are willing to help us sort the donations.

Thanks to the Hermitage Foundation and its All Hallows Eve event, ForKids got a huge jump start on the Thanksgiving drive. Hundreds of people donated non-perishable food items on October 25th. ForKids helped to coordinate more than 100 volunteers for the event and Hermitage donated all of the food to ForKids!

All ForKids families are required to create and maintain a budget. Living on limited income, most families cannot afford things like Halloween costumes that make the holidays truly special. Year after year, Body by Ken - Bootcamp for Women has made it their duty to make sure the ForKids children get the chance to fully experience Halloween. This year, they donated 38 costumes so that the ForKids children would have a happy Halloween.

Ongoing Volunteer Needs

• ForKids needs volunteers for children's services in Suffolk
  Sign up here>>
• ForKids needs one more driver to help transport children to and from a music class.
  Sign up here>>
• Do you love to knit? Are you a fan of yoga? Is painting your favorite hobby? If so, you can help teach a stress management class.
  Sign up here>>