Second annual foster family appreciation dinner

This article was contributed by Kathy Tiffany with Gabilan Chapter Kinship Center.

May 29 was the second annual foster family appreciation dinner hosted by Gabilan Chapter Kinship Center at Jardines de San Juan.

Last year we had six families attend the dinner. The goal from last year was to increase the number of foster families in our county so that our foster children do not have to be placed out of our county.

This year we hosted dinner for 13 foster families, plus two families going through the training!! It’s a huge step in the right direction.

We held the first dinner a year ago with the Department of Social Services. The idea was to thank the families who foster our vulnerable youth in San Benito County. If the kids are able to stay within the county, near to their school, friends, sports teams, etc., it is less disruptive to an already fractured situation.

Since last year, the foster families have started their own support group and a clothing closet. Kinship continues to have training for future foster and adoptive families at the office at 345 Fifth Street in Hollister.

If you are interested in the foster family training you can contact Debbie Schugg at dschugg@kinshipcenter.org. Between the county’s effort and Kinship, the foster families are growing in our county, which will only create healthier kids and families.

In addition to our foster family appreciation dinner, Gabilan Chapter Kinship Center awarded four scholarships to foster and adopted youth from San Benito County this past academic year. The scholarship information will be posted to our website in January. If you know of any teen who would be interested in applying for our scholarships, please direct them to our website.

Our group has also started the Gabilan Fund, which will issue grants to foster youth for items their families cannot afford. Information will be available on our website soon. The website also has information regarding our annual wine tasting event that will be held on September 8 at the Paicines Ranch from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more information go to www.gabilankinship.org.