Buy a Christmas ornament, help a foster child

Nov. 02--This Saturday, the Limestone County Foster and Adoptive Parent Association will kick off the holiday season with an ornament fundraiser at Ornament Workshop, a specialty Christmas store in Bridge Street Town Centre. Store owner and foster parent Stacie SanSoucie will donate half of all the proceeds from the ornaments sold between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. that day to LCFAPA.

The LCFAPA was founded five years ago to assist the Alabama Department of Human Resources in recruiting more people to become foster parents. According to the Alabama Department of Human Resources, there were 125 children in the county's foster care program in 2016 and only 35 foster parents.

The association also serves as a support group for existing foster and adoptive families and funds several activities for foster children throughout the year, including a harvest festival and Christmas program.

"A lot of times, children who are in the foster care system get separated from their siblings and the only time they get to see each other is at one of our events," said SanSoucie, who also serves on the LCFAPA board.

The association raises funds throughout the year, but the ornament sale is one of their biggest. This year they hope to raise $750, almost double the amount they raised last year from their online ornament sale.

"I suggested we use my store this year, because I think we'll get a lot more traffic and it will also help create awareness about our association and the need for more foster parents," SanSoucie said.

Shoppers will find a wide selection of ornaments and personalization options at Ornament Workshop, which is located in between the Apple Store and Alumni Hall.

New clothes

For the last year, the association has also been working on a foster and adoptive clothes closet. Anyone associated with the DHR can shop the closet, which started out in the living rooms of association board members. Recently, the Athens-Limestone Child Advocacy Center donated some of their warehouse space to the LCFAPA for them to use as a permanent location for the closet.

Maria Tyler, a foster parent for the last eight years and an association board member, was instrumental in getting the closet started.

"We are always looking for ways to raise money for things that make foster kids lives better," Tyler said. "The ornament sale and the new clothes closet are helping us do that."

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