From the desk of...

Susan Herman, Executive Director 

Even if you were not able to join us at Help One Child's 2nd Annual Mission Increase Banquet, you can still enjoy the evening!  Take a moment to learn what our guests did and consider giving a gift to help us meet our goal!   

155 guests enjoyed the wine and hors d'oeuvres reception that spilled out on the patio at the Crowne Plaza Cabana in Palo Alto. The weather was perfect!  At 6:00 sharp, the doors to the Grand Ballroom opened and guests found their way to their tables.

Founders, Mark and JoAnne Morris, were highlighted in a brief ministry video before welcoming our guests. They gave special thanks to Union Presbyterian Church whose provision of free office suites, event facilities and financial support are the ministry's foundation. Rev. David Moore, Sr. Pastor of UPC, came forward to open the evening with prayer.   

Understand the Facts

I took a moment to introduce Help One Child's inspirational Board ofDirectors and the dedicated staff and program managers. Guests were left to enjoy their dinner but were encouraged to share their own experiences with foster care and the ministry and to discuss the information displayed at each table.  This helped them better understand why it is critical that we invest in kids not only in the foster care system, but those still at-risk at home or in the process of reunification. 

Watch!

As salads were cleared, guests were moved by the video portraying the testimonies of those whose lives had been forever changed by unexpectedly answering God's call to become a foster or adoptive parent.  Jill Sandy, Director of Community Development, tied together the ministry's work with churches and its deployment of hundreds of volunteers as she interviewed foster parent, Mike Ingoglia. Mike shared how he and his wife Donna had received overwhelming volunteer support from Santa Teresa Catholic Community when they joined forces with Help One Child to sponsor a Parents' Night Out event at their church.   

Just before dessert, Judy Holmes, Director of Support Services, focused our attention on a video that highlighted the specialized training and personalized support that Help One Child has to offer. She noted that the 1,250 volunteers that were deployed in the prior year provided the equivalent support of 7 full time employees!

The ministry's commitment to use 2011 event funding to increase its outreach to struggling biological families was underscored in the video presentation (linked above) that includes a compelling testimony of a mother's journey to regain custody of her 7 children. 

A live testimony was given by Woody Hobbs who spoke

from his heart about his initial reluctance to become a foster parent. He told of the ways that he and his wife, Judy, and their daughter, Brooke, have been stretched and moved by the opening of their home to over a dozen foster children in their first year.  Brooke, a graduating high school senior and veteran junior counselor at the Signs of Hope Camp, gave us a glimpse of how the eyes and heart of a biological child can be opened to not only see the need to answer God's call, but to find the similarities between themselves and the children who come to stay for just a while.

Funds raised from the 2012 event will go towards enhancing Help One Child's programs and services that focus on the most at-risk population:  teens.  At-risk adolescents now represent a huge percentage of the homeless population and those native-born victims of human trafficking in the United States. 

 

Guests were asked to consider where they might be able to lend their support, whether it be financially or through their time and talent.  A matching grant for $40,000, made possible through the generosity of MHES, LLC, provided an incentive for donors to double their gift.  

 

Many thanks to our pre-event sponsors and donors! We met the match!  

However, while our same staff once served 150, we now serve nearly 700 families. New programs and services have been developed to support all members of the family. Volunteer deployment has grown from 5,000 to 16,000 hours.  It is our hope that we can add a part or full time staff person to help in the support and recruiting roles that are stretched thin by the current needs. The cost of this position would be above and beyond our current budget.

 

You can still help!  Gifts received by June 30th will better prepare us to welcome the continued growth of the ministry!  Volunteer assistance is always needed, greatly appreciated and makes you feel good.  

 

Please consider where you can make a difference in the life of a child at-risk.

 

Blessings,

Susan

P.S. Next year will be Help One Child's 20th Anniversary and you won't want to miss the celebration!  Stay tuned!