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What was the greatest change for BFF in 2015?
That would have to be moving into our own office, which provided more space and inspired us to further develop and expand our programs. We have grown tremendously and our students have experienced much success. We started our Gift of Giving program, enabling every one of our students to experience "giving", sometimes for the very first time. We are developing a new program called Do You M.I.N.D.?, which will give our students the training and needed resources to use mindfulness as a means of dealing with their stress, trauma and anxiety. So much accomplished, so much more to do. Thank you for following our stories, supporting our endeavors, and coming along for the ride.
Together, we can accomplish great things in 2016!
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EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About It!
Best Foot Forward is shattering all the statistics we read about for kids in foster care. With our continued 100% high school graduation rate, and multiple college graduates, we are proving that kids in foster care can reach their goals, the same as anyone else. It may be harder for them, and take a lot more support, but it can be done, and it is being done, right here in Palm Beach County. Here is another amazing graduation we recently had the honor of attending!
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Our annual fund campaign is going strong- we are half way towards our goal of $50,000! It was kicked off by a very successful Giving Tuesday, which led to an anonymous $6,000 matching grant opportunity for BFF.
If you are planning on making a tax-deductible donation, please consider Best Foot Forward. Click here to make a donation or contact Donna at [email protected].
Thank you!
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BFF HOLIDAY PARTY!
The most fun event of the year is by far our BFF holiday party. Atlas Party Rental hosted the party this year and enlisted the help of their partners to create a truly special event: TooJay's for a great lunch, photographer La Ren Originals to take pictures, M.C. Alex Entertainment Group for games and emceeing and Alexander Mason Designs for designing our invitation. Andy Raffa brought Santa Claus to the party, who was a big hit! Everyone had a great time, and went home with lots of wonderful presents. Thank you to all who make this lunch so special, and to Lisa Cohen and Tina Polsky for chairing this event again. Click here for pictures.
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THE GIFT of GIVING!
Children in foster care rarely get to experience the tremendous feeling of giving. We wanted to offer that experience to our kids, and shared the idea at a board meeting. Lisa Wheeler and Jennifer Jager jumped at the opportunity and offered to take on the project. Each of our students picked a person they wanted to give a gift to. Lisa enlisted her friends who filled every gift on their wish lists. Jenn organized a collection which provided tons of wrapping paper, tape, scissors, ribbon, bows and holiday cards. The kids chose their wrapping paper, wrapped the gift, filled out a card, and gave the gift to the person of their choice. It was a huge success!
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THE GIVING TREE
of TEMPLE BETH EL!
Every year, The Giving Tree supports our children for the holidays by adopting each one and letting them choose the gift they really want. What makes the Giving Tree program so special is that they buy exactly what the student asked for on their wish list. Each gift is special and personal, and it makes the holidays so much better for the kids. We are so appreciative for their support and thoughtfulness during the holidays, and throughout the year.
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EXECUTIVE CLUB!
This networking group chose BFF for their holiday toy drive event, and what an amazing event it was. Pinon Grill hosted the happy hour where we were able to meet many wonderful local community members. So many toys were donated, enough to give to each of our kids and to use in our Gift of Giving program. Thank you to everyone who came by and donated a toy. We look forward to more events together!
Click here for pictures!
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We are so grateful for our partnership with Campus Management. They organized a candy filling project, where many of their staff spent their lunch hour putting together 180 candy bags. They adopted all of our students, and bought them pajamas for the holidays. They are also setting up one of our college student's dorm room. This is the second consecutive year that we have partnered with them and we are very grateful for their generosity!
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Thanks to Margi and Kurtiss Cross and the wonderful neighborhood of Four Seasons, all of our students over 18 received a huge food delivery in time for Thanksgiving, with lots of extra food to help stock their pantries. Our kids live on very tight budgets and they often struggle to keep food in their homes. The donation is a huge help to them, especially this time of year.
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Every year, Barnes & Noble offers free gift wrapping for the holidays and provides charities with the opportunity to do the wrapping for donations. We enjoy doing it and appreciate the chance to meet new people and share our cause with them. Thank you to the volunteers who represented BFF and wrapped gifts. Hope you can all join us next year!
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This is a brand new store in the Palm Beach Gardens Mall and we are thrilled to have them as our newest partner. We wrapped gifts for their customers, received donations, and had the chance to make connections in the northern part of the county. We will be seeing a lot more of Bunulu in the future and appreciate their partnership!
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5 years and going strong! Busy Body hosted an amazing Thanksgiving day event to benefit our programs. Shannon Casey organized the event with over 75 people participating in Spin class and an outdoor Zumba class led by Willibeth and Fabio. Mr. Jean was a great DJ. All proceeds and donations supported BFF programs.
Click here for pictures
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Our local charity leader continues to provide guidance, inspiration and resources to all the nonprofits in the area. Once again, they supported our students for the holidays by giving each one a great present, like lava lamps and skateboards...
awesome gifts. We appreciate their partnership throughout the year. Thank you Spirit of Giving!
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This local company cares about their community and loves for their employees to give back, holding several drives throughout the year. They collected food for Thanksgiving for BFF! Many of our foster families have their own families to care for, along with their foster children, and we are happy to share with them to make the holidays better.
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What an honor it was to receive a Lois Kwasman Community Impact grant from the Executive Women of the Palm Beaches. They are dedicated to improving and enhancing the lives of girls in our area. We also received funding from the Trio Foundation of St. Louis, supporting programs that value fulfillment of human potential. With their support, we are going to make sure that the students in our program have what they need to become successful.
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WOMEN of GRACE!
Kathy Feinerman was selected as one of the Bethesda Hospital Foundation's Women of Grace. She was honored at a beautiful luncheon at Mar A Lago surrounded by many of her friends, and fellow BFF supporters. Kathy is so deserving of the honor because of her tireless work on behalf of the children in the Best Foot Forward program. Her dedication to the agency, our mission, and the children makes her such a special BFF.
Click here for pictures!
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JUNIOR LEAGUE WOMAN VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR!
Lisa Wheeler was our nominee because of her dedication to BFF. She is a founding board member and provides support and guidance that we value immensely. You might find her taking pictures at our events, hosting a fundraising event, or rallying support for a program. She is an important part of our agency and we are very proud to call her our BFF.
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Are you thinking about volunteering? We would love to have you on our volunteer team. There are weekly tasks, one-time projects, periodic jobs...so many ways to help. Contact Debbie for more information on how to get involved! [email protected] or
561-470-8300.
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We are expanding our Foundations program and are looking for someone to work with/tutor students in elementary school. Approximately 20 hours per week, includes traveling to various schools. Must have a teaching background, be flexible, responsible, patient and kind.
We are looking for someone to help out in the office with general administrative work. Approximately 10-12 hours per week. Must be responsible, organized, detail oriented and be computer knowledgable in Microsoft products.
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THANK YOU to everyone who voted for us in the Yelp social media contest. We are anxiously waiting to hear if we won $5,000, due out the week of January 4th.
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