Makine dreams a reality for children in foster care. Ahead of the holidays each year, volunteers at Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options work to make the wishes of foster kids come true.
"A lot times at the holidays, children in foster care just get random gifts from very well-intended, generous people in the community, but there's lots of puzzles and lots of Barbie dolls and that's not necessarily what they would want in their heart," JAFCO's CEO Sarah Franco told CBS News. "And I'm not sure that the children in our care have ever had a wish come true on the holidays, necessarily."
Every year, JAFCO holds a Hanukkah Gift Drive, where people can buy presents from kids' wish lists. Then, JAFCO volunteers wrap them. "Since we are a Jewish agency, we say Hanukkah [gift drive], but we really mean 'holiday' and we really honor the background of every child we have," Franco said. Jewish kids will have a gift to open on each of the eight nights of the holiday. And kids who celebrate Christmas will have gifts to open on the 25th.
JAFCO started more than 30 years ago as a foster care organization that focused on matching kids with families that practiced the same faith. Check the video below, and/or read more on this wonderful agency here.
Photo: JAFCO