[Oasfaa] Citizens Caring for Children and the Spring 09 OASFAA conference

[Schmerer, Mendy M. (HSC)]

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are working on this Wednesday afternoon!

For those of you who may be new to OASFAA, several years ago, the Association decided to adopt Citizens Caring for Children as our service organization.  Since then, the Association has found a variety of ways to contribute to all the wonderful things they do and provide to youth in Oklahoma foster care.  In August, during their Back to School drive, Citizens Caring for Children was able to help over 800 children in foster care by providing school supplies, backpacks, and clothing for the new school year.  If you would like to learn more about them, please visit their site at http://www.citizenscaringforchildren.org/.

For those of you who attended the Spring 2008 conference, you may remember that one of our guests was Allen Carson.  He is now a minister in Oklahoma, but in his youth, he was in a situation where he was placed in foster care and had only wonderful things to say about the services that he had access to with Citizens Caring for Children and the difference they made in his life.  One of the things that he said that seemed to strike a chord with many members is the fact that those in foster care rarely have a bag of any kind in which to place their few belongings.  They are often removed from their homes with only the clothing on their backs.  If they are able to collect a few precious belongings, they often have to carry them in black trash bags on in their school book bags.

"Operation Backpack" was an overwhelming success in the Spring and we were able to donate over 165 backpacks that were full of socks and underwear, not to mention $840 in monetary donations.  In gearing up for the Spring 2009 conference, the Program Committee will be facilitating another collection drive.  This time, we will be collecting backpacks or duffel bags in which children can place their belongings, sweats, and pajamas.  Citizens Caring for Children serves youth of all ages, so remember that not only will Dora the Explorer and Spider-Man be welcomed, but so will items that are geared for teens as well.

So, while you are out stimulating the economy by hitting the sales over this long weekend, please keep these items in mind and pick up what you can to help contribute to this worthy cause.  As we approach the conference in April, further reminders will be sent out.  For now, this seemed a fitting time to start making efforts to assist the youth in foster care in Oklahoma through our contributions to Citizens Caring for Children.

Thank you and have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend,

Mendy Schmerer
Office of Student Financial Aid
Financial Aid Coordinator
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
1106 N. Stonewall, Rm 301
Oklahoma City, OK  73117
(405) 271-2118, x 48817 (p)
(405) 271-5446 (f)
Mendy-Schmerer at ouhsc.edu<mailto:Mendy-Schmerer at ouhsc.edu>
http://w3.ouhsc.edu/sfs/

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.onenet.net/pipermail/oasfaa/attachments/20081126/1ac98562/attachment.html