The 25th anniversary of the Holiday Cottage kicks off Tuesday morning. If you're looking to give the perfect gift this year, you can do so while helping out a great cause at the same time. It lets the community buy gifts for foster kids.
If you look at the walls at the Holiday Cottage, you can see a number of little tags. Each one of them has two items a child in foster care wants for Christmas. For many of these kids, these gifts are remembered for a lifetime.
"Her name is Brianna, she is the one I'm going to donate to." All it took was a glance at the wall for Caitlyn Steeves to see Brianna's name, a 13-year-old girl who's entire Christmas list is two items long.
"They're very little gifts. They just want little hair clips or coloring books. Especially the little ones, they just want little things," said Steeves.
Steeves says the little gifts make a big difference, and she would know. She spent almost her entire childhood in foster care.
"Growing up, it was very difficult for me. I had this bitterness towards Christmas and I didn't like the holidays because I never had my family," said Steeves.
That's a reality more than one thousand Kern County foster kids will face this holiday season. Their best chance at getting a gift they want is from a donation by a stranger.
"It's an especially difficult time of the year for children who've been taken into custody. They wish for their families even if they suffered abuse and neglect but they have a need to be remembered," said Dena Murphy, Chief Deputy Director at the Department of Human Services
Gifts at the Holiday Cottage range in size from kids toys, bicycles, clothes, video games, and covers infants all the way up to 18-year-olds.
"A small, simple gift can mean the world to a child and can help them keep in touch with their feelings," said Murphy.
Do the gifts make a difference? Steeves says she still remembers what she received from the Holiday Cottage 15 years ago. "I was always excited about Aeropostale that had just come out and I was so excited. So they bought me some clothes and stuff," said Steeves.
Except for Thanksgiving, the Holiday Cottage will be open daily until December 10th from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
If you look at the walls at the Holiday Cottage, you can see a number of little tags. Each one of them has two items a child in foster care wants for Christmas. For many of these kids, these gifts are remembered for a lifetime.
"Her name is Brianna, she is the one I'm going to donate to." All it took was a glance at the wall for Caitlyn Steeves to see Brianna's name, a 13-year-old girl who's entire Christmas list is two items long.
"They're very little gifts. They just want little hair clips or coloring books. Especially the little ones, they just want little things," said Steeves.
Steeves says the little gifts make a big difference, and she would know. She spent almost her entire childhood in foster care.
"Growing up, it was very difficult for me. I had this bitterness towards Christmas and I didn't like the holidays because I never had my family," said Steeves.
That's a reality more than one thousand Kern County foster kids will face this holiday season. Their best chance at getting a gift they want is from a donation by a stranger.
"It's an especially difficult time of the year for children who've been taken into custody. They wish for their families even if they suffered abuse and neglect but they have a need to be remembered," said Dena Murphy, Chief Deputy Director at the Department of Human Services
Gifts at the Holiday Cottage range in size from kids toys, bicycles, clothes, video games, and covers infants all the way up to 18-year-olds.
"A small, simple gift can mean the world to a child and can help them keep in touch with their feelings," said Murphy.
Do the gifts make a difference? Steeves says she still remembers what she received from the Holiday Cottage 15 years ago. "I was always excited about Aeropostale that had just come out and I was so excited. So they bought me some clothes and stuff," said Steeves.
Except for Thanksgiving, the Holiday Cottage will be open daily until December 10th from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.