ACFPA Christmas Event 2022

On December 17, 2022 ACFPA hosted another smashing Christmas party for Resource Parents, including relative, foster and adoptive families, and children in Alameda County. Over 440 families and kids registered for the event. This year, the families were given the option to either drop by and pick up their gifts or walk through the event; more than 300 opted to walk through the event.

Once again this year, the First Presbyterian Church of Hayward allowed the use of their facilities and sanctuary for this wonderful celebration. Families who opted to pick up their goodies received extra large pre-packed gift bags filled with clothing, toys, books and gift cards. Those who walked through had a chance to choose their own gifts from the Toy Room. Babies and teens received Target gift cards, thanks to the generosity of New Life Church, Bay Area Chinese Bible Church and East Bay Orphan Care. There were also bags filled with cosmetics and of course, yummy sugar cookies.  

In addition to the wonderful gifts, Santa was prominently displayed in the Sanctuary this year and families had a chance to take their pictures with St. Nicolas. The Sanctuary was decorated to the hilt by our wonderful volunteers and looked truly magical.

As usual, we couldn’t pull off such a fabulous celebration without the generosity of our donors and tireless work of our volunteers. These included East Bay Orphan Care, New Life Church, Chinese Bible Church of Alameda and San Leandro, Sephora, Mary Kay, Toy for Tots, First Presbyterian Church of Hayward and many individual donors who support this event every year. We are grateful to Rendy Orlando, the ACFPA Fundraising and Donations Co-chair, who led much of the volunteer effort and with her family, dedicated many hours to make this event possible, as well as Carol Graham who spent countless hours organizing the registration. Click on Gallery to see more pictures of the event.

Students Rising Above Scholarship

In addition to ACFPA scholarships, there are many other scholarships available out there. You will find links to some of these scholarships at the bottom of our Scholarship page.

Students Rising Above (SRA) is now accepting scholarships for High School Juniors graduating in Spring 2024. SRA empowers students facing systemic barriers to define and find success through education, career, and in life. Selected students will receive mentoring support, financial assistance, and college and career guidance. The goal of the Rising Stars Program is to provide students with the individualized support they need to be successful. 

Program Requirements include the following:

  • Must currently be a Junior in High School
  • Low income or living on government assistance
  • High School Senior in 2023-2024 school year
  • Committed to earning a college education
  • GPA of 2.0 or higher
  • Must live within the nine-county Bay Area
  • All students are eligible to apply, regardless of their immigration or citizenship status.

Here is the link to the application: https://sra.tfaforms.net/51

The application deadline is March 4th, 2023 at 11:59pm. Students will likely need a letter of recommendation.

Support the ACFPA Scholarship Programs

They say it takes a village to raise a child. For Resource and kinship families, that village can look unique to each child and youth’s particular needs and interests. The Alameda County Foster Parent Association’s (ACFPA) scholarship program provides scholarships to ACFPA members with the goal of connecting foster and adoptive children and youth to community programs. These programs help them to succeed in school, prepare for higher education and work, and explore extracurricular activities like music, dance, sports, and camps.

ACFPA scholarships are available to kids and young adults through 22 years of age. In 2021, despite the COVID epidemic, the fund awarded more than $5,000 to 21 foster and adopted kids ages 1-17 years old. So far in 2022, the Scholarship Committee has awarded almost $6,700 to 22 kids ages 1-19. These awards have supplemented the cost of swim, music and dance lessons, martial arts, zoo memberships, camps and even college supplies.

Enrichment scholarships can fund afterschool and school break extracurricular activities. Research has shown that participation in extracurricular activities can improve children’s math, reading, movement skills, and social and emotional skills. Participating in extracurriculars has been linked with a decreased risk of being bullied among children with disabilities.

The ACFPA academic support scholarships can help children and youth with their school skills. Children and youth in foster care have historically shown lower scores in math and reading skills and had a higher dropout rate. Factors such as experiencing trauma and changing placements and schools are linked to lower academic skills. These scholarships can fund tutoring, study aides and test prep classes to help children and youth catch up to their classmates.

Jennifer, an ACFPA member and Resource parent, has used Enrichment Scholarships to support her adoptive son’s love for ballet and hip-hop dance lessons.  She writes, “He absolutely loves dance and has a true passion for it. This was his 3rd year dancing, and he still loves it.” Afterschool activities like dance can help children to build coordination, strength, and self-esteem.

Last summer, our family received a scholarship to send our 1-year-old foster son to swim lessons at the San Leandro Family Aquatic Center. As a child born during the COVID-19 pandemic, this was his first group activity. It gave him a positive early experience with swimming and allowed him to play and interact with other toddlers in a safe outdoor space. I befriended some fellow parents during the class and we did playdates outside of swim lessons. Our foster son loved going to the playground with his new friends. Thanks to the lessons, he now loves swimming and looks forward to every chance to jump in the water!

The ACFPA scholarship program can help families access important resources in the community to help their children and young adults in their care to explore their interests, achieve academically, and prepare for adult life.

Scholarship committee members can also help families to locate and apply for programs to help their children and youth thrive. Not sure where to begin? Contact us at: members@acfpa1.org.

Article by: Lesley Paige. Lesley is an Alameda County Resource Parent and member of the ACFPA Scholarship Committee

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