Page 69 - Wallingford Magazine Issue 56 Autumn 2025

bottles, baby food for the newborn at basis, deliver and pick up supplies and by with laughs and good times abound-
the hospital that night, they now would clothing for nearly two years. An enor- ing. You could see Erin and Megan, so
have “care bags” at the ready for just an mous help. Thanks Ladies! happy and so overwhelmed with joy
emergency. So now, today, they opened and appreciation for the support in
up this store for kids to enjoy coming in, Everything is free to foster, kinship fos- the room. In August they had their 5th
thumb through the racks on their own, ter, adoptive and reunited birth families. annual Back-to-School Backpack Give-
finding a brand name, finding their fa- The Foster Closet has new and like-new away Extravaganza. At this Middletown
vorite color, finding freedom of choice. clothes, pajamas, and underwear. Oth- event, they served lunch for all the fam-
They wanted this kid to feel good about er items are available as well, including ilies from the Cowabunga food truck,
themselves, to change the stigma of be- cribs, strollers, books and toys. Over the Ben and Jerrys was a big hit, face paint-
ing a foster kid. They can now shop till past 12 months, they have fulfilled 73 ing, therapy goats and Touch-a-Truck
they drop! shopping visits for children and teens display. At this event they brought lots
living in the 29 towns in the Greater of back- to- school clothing and shoes
They each put in $300, prepared all the Hartford region. to distribute. They expected at least 220
necessary paperwork, tax exempt fil- children and teens to present the back-
ings, filed for Grants and eventually it packs to.
all came together. Phew! The Greater
Community Foundation of New Haven At Small Batch there was a wine tasting
gave a generous Grant and they were event complete with finger foods from
on their way to the races! various restaurants. An electronic bill-

And they’re Off! Setting up shop, comb- board was flashing. The month of May
was “National Foster Care Awareness
ing for donations and local support Month.” Much has been accomplished.
from businesses, holding charity events There will be many more wonderful
and fundraisers. It has blossomed into a events in the future just like these. You
heartwarming turn of events for these will be kept informed on social media
two young moms. They, by the way, fos- and advertising.
ter several children of their own as well.
Wow! Fostering Family Hope would not exist
without the generous support of foun-
dations, businesses and community
Expanding into a much larger space is members who help them with funding,
donations of all types and their time
their goal. To have the space to spread and effort! These include The New Al-
their wares instead of still storing them liance Foundation, 180 Life Church of
would be the ideal solution. They have West Hartford, Wallingford Community
been looking. Nothing affordable has Women, Inc, Ulbrich Steel, Wallingford
come to light. But they are very hopeful. Rotary, Jill DeChello, Donna Zona, New
Fundraising has been pretty success- Haven Rotary, Health Insurance Associ-
ates of North Haven, the Eatery of Wall-
ful ! Thanks to the generous business ingford and many, many more business-
owners and employees of Wallingford es and individuals.
and North Haven. This past summer a
Murder Mystery Dinner was organized
by the editor of the North Haven Mag-
azine. Also, our own Donna Zona has REACH IN AND REACH OUT TO
They once began as volunteers, they been hostess at Traditions. A fashion FOSTERING FAMILY HOPE.
now have volunteers of their own. Our show spotlighting the runway of beau- WWW.FOSTERINGFAMILYHOPE.ORG
WCW, Wallingford Community Women, ties and beautiful clothes. A silent auc-
have partnered with FFH to pitch in to tion was held during the festivities, food
help organize the shop on a seasonal was phenomenal and the night just flew

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