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From Pies to Paper Angels, Youth in Initiative Sites Create New Holiday Traditions
by Martha Shirk
The winter holidays can be depressing for youth in transition from foster care. The Hallmark card images of happy families gathered around brightly lighted Christmas trees contrast starkly with their memories of lonely holidays spent separated from their families.
To create some new holiday memories, youth with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative sites have been busy since mid-November baking apple pies for a community feast, organizing toiletry drives for youth in residential facilities, and celebrating their relationships with each other at festive holiday parties.
The youth board of the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative (MYOI) in Traverse City, Mich., kicked off the season of giving by getting together at the Grand Traverse Pie Co. in mid-November to make almost 100 apple crumb pies for a Thanksgiving dinner for more than 350 needy people in the community.
The idea of getting site participants to help make pies came from Denise Busley, who owns the pie company with her husband. The Busleys have been enthusiastic community partners since the Traverse City site's start. They allow the youth board to meet in the restaurant and also give the site a nickel for each piece of pie they sell, which adds up to about $1,300 a year. They expect to pass along another $1,200 for site expenses this year from customers' donations of their loose change.
"We've supported this Thanksgiving event since we opened 11 years ago, and this year, I thought, why not get the youth involved?" said Denise Busley. "I think that it's through giving that you learn to receive. If we can plug these youth into the community in a way that lets them know that people care about them, it's all for the good."
About two dozen youth helped with the pies. "It was nice to be able to help people who have less than I do," said Kayla Abel, 20, of Grawn, Mich. "This was the first time I've done something like this."
In early December, the Traverse City youth board turned its attention to helping with the annual "Paper Angels" gift project for children in foster care sponsored by WTCM Radio and Child & Family Services of Northwestern Michigan. This year, for the first time, MYOI youth were invited to submit wish lists that community donors could fulfill. "It's amazing how basic their needs are," said Marco Dedenbach, the site's community coordinator. "They didn't ask for luxury items. They asked for diapers, baby clothes, gift certificates for groceries — things they need to live day to day." The MYOI youth also volunteered to help out with the distribution of gifts to children in foster care, which took place on December 8.
The high point of the site's seasonal festivities is its annual holiday gathering, at Mountain Jacks restaurant on December 16. "We will be celebrating our youth's achievements and recognizing our community partners for all the support they provide," Dedenbach said. He has solicited donations from the community to ensure that each youth receives a gift bag as well as the opportunity to win a bigger-ticket item, like a down comforter, in a raffle.
Elsewhere in the Jim Casey network:
- In southern Michigan, the youth board for Macomb County MYOI hosted its annual holiday party at Andiamo's, an Italian restaurant, on December 18. Katherine Marceau, the site coordinator, noted that Christmas was a difficult time of year for many youth who have been in foster care. "They don't necessarily say anything, but I can tell it's hard on them," she said. "I can think of three or four who really struggle this time of year. They feel alone."
The site's holiday dinner was held at the same restaurant last year, and two of the waitresses purchased a blanket and candy for every youth who attended. The waitresses were so touched by the youths that they asked Marceau after the event if there was anything else they could do. She gave them the name of a youth board member whom she knew was unlikely to get any Christmas gifts. "They bought her all sorts of gifts," Marceau recalled. "They really spoiled her."
Marceau tries to make sure that every youth board member has a place to go on Christmas Day. "If they don't have family, I'll ask if they have a friend they can spend the day with, to kind of get them thinking out of the box. I try to put myself in their shoes. I wouldn't want to go to a stranger's home."
To commemorate Thanksgiving, the Macomb County youth board hosted a special dinner. "The majority had families to go to on Thanksgiving Day, but I wanted them to experience Thanksgiving with this family, too," Marceau said. "They're very close to each other."
- In Bridgeport, Conn., the youth board, which is called A Voice to be Heard, voted last month to "adopt" a family for the holidays. The board asked Beth Ann Jackson, the Jim Casey program manager, to help identify a needy family, and she told them about two site participants whose mother is seriously ill with AIDS. The board set aside $200 to purchase gift cards for the family, plus a smaller amount to buy bus tokens. The board is also planning to solicit donations of Christmas gifts for youth in three group homes, including one for teen moms and their children, and to help serve a meal at a local shelter.
The MYOI Youth Board in Detroit hosted a Thanksgiving dinner at HockeyTown Cafe on November 20 for 127 14- to 24-year-olds who are in or transitioned from foster care. "Many of our youth do not have families or relatives to celebrate Thanksgiving with," noted Mary O. Macias, director of community partners for the site. "We provided a traditional Thanksgiving meal, an award presentation for youth who are aging out of the initiative, and a local hip-hop group for entertainment. We also had a great raffle that included: furniture, a microwave, an iPod, dinner certificates and a Detroit Tigers jersey."
In mid-December, the site will hold a Holiday Giveback event to benefit youth in residential facilities. "Our community partners have been holding hygiene product drives, collecting deodorant and shampoo and things like that," Macias said. "Our youth are going to come together for dinner and to put together care packages for about 100 youth who are in residential facilities."
In Denver, the Bridging the Gap youth leadership board sponsored a Thanksgiving dinner on November 17 at Rainbow Alley, a drop-in center for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. Two community partners, Fado's Irish pub and Steubens Food Service, provided the food. "We had approximately 25 to30 people come and enjoy turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin and pecan pie," said Kippi Clausen, Jim Casey project director at Mile High United Way.
The Denver site is planning three other holiday-related events this month. On December 15, some youth baked cookies and carol at a local retirement center. On December 16, the three dozen Bridging the Gap youth who are parents received gifts for their children that were collected through a toy drive sponsored by a women's leadership group. And on December 29, the site will host a holiday dance.
