HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The holidays can be hard on everyone, but especially for children in the foster care system.
The volunteers at Joshua House in Lutz are working to make Christmas special for hundreds of foster care children across the Tampa Bay area.
“If you meet these kids, you’re going to want to work overtime. You’re going to make sure they get what they want. If I could, I’d buy everything on their list. They deserve it. They didn’t do anything wrong to be here, so yeah, I’ll work as hard as I have to," Nanci March with Joshua House said.
March and her team are working to get gifts for hundreds of children. They're organizing the gifts based on the children’s wishlists with the hopes of getting them exactly what they want for Christmas. March said this time of year comes with a hard reminder for these kids.
“All the children really just want to be with their families. That’s what they want regardless of the fact that their families abused or neglected them. That is where they want to be,” March said.
We also spoke to Cassidy Wright, a foster mom and a child trauma therapist.
Wright explained it takes foster children some time to trust adults.
“It took a long time for him to open up and trust that I am not leaving,” Wright said.
She said that's the case for most children in this situation. She added that the holiday season comes with some added stressors because kids are not on their normal routine with school and activities.
“It just brings up a lot of anxiety, a lot of unknowns, a lot of things that they can't control,” Wright said.
March said that's why they go above and beyond to keep the children living at Joshua House busy with holiday games and also to give them the gifts on their wish list.
“We want to make sure then they open their gifts they feel happy and valued and worthy, “ March said.
Click here to donate to a child's wish list.
