Foster Love Project opens doors to free donation center for Pittsburgh kids
Even before they were married, Andrew and Kelly Hughes shared a passion for helping kids.
“Although we had no idea what avenue we would go through, we always wanted to keep open the option of providing our home to kids who needed one,” Kelly says.
While exploring the issues involving adoption, they looked into foster care.
“We felt this was the best fit for our family and have been very grateful to be a part of the lives of the eight children who have come through our home,” Kelly says.
Two of the foster children ended up needing a permanent home and Andrew and Kelly were able to adopt them in 2015 as part of their family, which also includes their two kids, who were ages 4 and 2 at the time.
The couple’s commitment to helping foster children was the impetus for their Foster Love Project, a nonprofit they launched in 2014 to help ease the transition for kids in and out of home placements by providing travel bags to replace the trash bags holding their few personal items. The Foster Love bags are filled with pajamas, a blanket, stuffed animal, socks, soap, toothbrush and a book.
The newest endeavor for Foster Love Project is the opening of its free donation center in Dormont, the first of its kind in western Pennsylvania. With about 2,500 kids in foster care in Allegheny County, the need was evident.
Part of the goal of the center is to provide love and dignity to foster kids who have left everything behind and can “shop” for what they need. Local businesses and organizations have rallied behind their efforts to donate items for the center.
“We are thrilled that we have several local companies who have donated a lot of brand new clothing for teens,” says Kelly, Foster Love Project founder and director. “We think it’s even more vital for our foster teens to be able to shop and wear the same brands and trends that their peers are wearing.”
The community is invited to check out Foster Love Project’s Community Open House and Family Extravaganza on Sept. 11. Tours and a full line up of family fun include a magic show, bounce house, balloon twisting, face painting, food trucks, and prizes.
“We are currently 100-percent volunteer run. None of us receive a salary or compensation in running the center,” Kelly says. “We have had hundreds of volunteers this summer who have participated in getting the center up and running. It has been a beautiful sight to see the amazing community engagement.”
Volunteers help organize and sort donations, take inventory, clean and straighten and help the foster children find the items they need when they come in to shop.
“One thing that has drawn many families to help is that it is something that kids as young as 4 years old can come and be a part of the volunteer teams,” she says. “We will also be running our annual placement bag drive in November and December, and that is another great way for families to give back together.”
The Bair Foundation in New Wilmington is one of more than 21 foster agencies and shelters in 10 counties that benefit from the Foster Love Project.Jill Schmidt, PA director of adoption and permanency services, says the Foster Love Project has been a great asset to her foundation, as well as numerous other agencies across Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
“Over the past three years, every child that enters The Bair Foundation foster care or permanency program has been blessed with a Foster Love bag,” Schmidt says. “I have been able to witness numerous children receive these bags, and they are life-changing for them. The items are not only necessities, but they give the children dignity to have items that now belong to them.”
The organization is “an immense blessing” to the foster family community, agrees Robin H., a foster parent who has utilized the Foster Love Project for three separate foster placements.
“When our family has been placed with children, we’ve gotten very little notice, usually only hours,” she says. “Knowing that there is a place to go to get vital baby and child supplies eases the panic that comes with frantically preparing your home for a new child.”
Kristin H., part of a newly licensed foster family, has volunteered at the donation center with her family.
“I have seen firsthand foster children walking through the center and picking out a toy of their own and some new clothes,” she says. “The joy on their faces is priceless!”
During September, Foster Love Project Donation Center is open 6-8 p.m. Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-noon Thursdays and most Saturdays. Foster parents and case workers are welcome to bring foster children in their care to shop for free for diapers, formula, clothing, toys, books, toiletries, and bedding. Custody verification is required.
