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Good things come in pairs: Teen steps up to help foster children

Robert Jordan , CORRESPONDENT
VALLEY TIMES

Article Created: 05/10/2009 01:50:17 PM PDT

PLEASANTON — Hundreds of "Dear Santa" letters were strewn across the table. Each one had a similar request: Please, bring my mother back; Find my brother; and, Can I please have a new pair of shoes?

Sarah Williams read each letter generated in December by Foster A Dream's annual Winter Wonderland event for foster care kids.

Sarah, 16, knew she could not reunite a child with his mother or erase the pain of being separated from a sibling. But there was one wish Sarah knew she could handle — the shoes.

A sophomore at Valley Christian School in Dublin, Sarah enlisted the help of Laura Heston, Pleasanton school district's service learning coordinator, to start "Stepping up to Help Others."

Sarah and Heston started the program last week in conjunction with National Foster Care Month. Together they hope to lace together enough donations to provide a new pair of shoes to every foster kid in Alameda County.

With about 2,400 kids in the foster care system, it's a lofty goal. But Sarah and Heston have faith that with the help of the 14,800 students in the Pleasanton school district they will be able to provide the shoes by the start of the 2009-10 school year.

"I have lots of shoes," said Williams, a Pleasanton resident. "I wear a different pair every day. But for (foster kids) to have a closed-toe pair means a lot and is something we take for granted."

Shoes are being collected at Alisal, Donlon, Fairlands, Hearst, Mohr and Walnut Grove elementaries and Hart and Harvest Park middle schools. The district offices, at 4665 Bernal Ave., also are accepting new shoes.

During the drive, all new shoes will be accepted, but the duo is especially hoping for boys shoes, sizes 6 through 13. Of the 2,400 foster kids in Alameda County, a majority are between the ages of 8 and 18, and there are more boys than girls, said Sylvia Soublet, media relations officer for the county's social services agency.

On May 3, Sleep Train Mattress Centers ended its statewide foster care shoe drive for the 75,000 children in the California foster system. Mauri Knowles, the company's marketing and community relations coordinator, said they are counting the shoes collected and expect to have a few thousand pairs.

"Foster parents do get a small stipend to care for the child," Soublet said. "But if kids are in a growth spurt they are growing out of shoes every month. So it is invaluable."

Soublet said getting the shoes is a great result, but making the public aware of the foster care system is even more important. Sarah has been raising awareness for the past year, since she read the book "Hope's Boy." The best-seller is a memoir of Andrew Bridge's experience with the foster care system.

In the book, Bridge recalls doing legal work at a foster care facility in Eufaula, Ala., where he asked for a blanket for a shivering child and was denied.

That account sparked Sarah to start Creative Kindness last year, a program that gets the community and local merchants to make fleece blankets for foster kids. So far, more than 2,100 blankets have been made.

Heston has volunteered for Foster A Dream for the past three years and got involved through her fiance, Juan Castro, who also works for the district. Castro is also a volunteer for Foster A Dream and introduced both Sarah and Heston to the group.

"Reading ("Hope's Boy") really opened my eyes," said Sarah. "A lot of those kids don't have anything. They are abandoned and the only things that they call their own are the clothes on their back."

Reach Robert Jordan at 925-847-2184 or rjordan@bayareanewgroup.com.

Stepping Up to Help Others

Sarah Williams and Laura Heston are on a mission to provide a new pair of shoes for every foster kid in Alameda County. New shoes are being collected for the Stepping up to Help Others shoe drive at Alisal, Donlon, Fairlands, Hearst, Mohr and Walnut Grove elementary and Hart and Harvest Park middles schools in Pleasanton. Shoes are also being collected at school district offices, 4665 Bernal Ave. For details, call Heston at 925-426-4444 ext. 4501.

If you are interested in finding out more about becoming an foster or adoptive parent, contact (510) 259-3575 or http://www.pathwaytohome.org in Alameda County.

In Contra Costa County, call toll free (866) 313-7788 or (925) 335-7089 or visit http://www.ehsd.org.