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It's Our Anniversary!
So much has happened over the past 8 years. We could never have imagined that one idea could change so many lives and become such an impactful and important community resource.
Thank you for sharing our journey, for taking the time to stay informed and for supporting us. We could never accomplish what we do without you!
We look forward to great things in 2018!
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The HOLIDAYS were AMAZING!
December was an incredible month filled with generosity, goodwill and kindness. We are very lucky and
extremely grateful to have so much support from our community.
With almost 150 students in our program, it takes a village to make sure they all are taken care of for the holidays. Thank you to everyone who donated, contributed, volunteered, wrapped and baked. It is only with this combined effort that it was the best holiday ever!
Click here for
pictures & read below about all
our holiday events:
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HOLIDAY PARTY 2017
What a fun time everyone had at our holiday party! The party began with every student d
ecorating their very own Christmas tree, with ornaments, candy canes and a tree topper. The best part was seeing their faces when they learned they could
bring the tree home and keep it forever! The kids really enjoyed an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner, followed by some fun bingo games and a special visit f
rom
Santa, who brought wonderful gifts for all.
New to our holiday party was our cookie giveaway.
Thank you to everyone who baked cookies! We were delighted by the variety and quantity- 3,000 cookies!! That was enough to fill 2 large boxes for each student- one to keep for themselves and one to give as a gift. What a treat!
Every student left the party with their tree,
cookies, gifts, and warm memories of the holidays with their BFF family. A special thank you to Lorraine Bedick and Marci Danzansky for their incredible creativity and
organization
in planning
this amazing party. PARTY PHOTOS!
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SPIRIT OF GIVING
This incredible community organization supports so many nonprofits. They have provided gifts to our students for many years, letting each of them choose something they really want. Their "elves" work so hard to make sure that no child is denied. THANK YOU!
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TOY DRIVE
The Inner Circle Executive Club hosted a toy drive for our students at Pinon Grill. It was a lot of fun to kick off the holidays with so many of our BFFs. Thank you to all who came out to wish us a happy holiday and for all the wonderful toy donations!
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VOLUNTEERS
We could never have pulled off all the holiday events without our amazing volunteers. From wrapping presents for our kids, to wrapping at Barnes and Noble, to donating BF Elf gifts, to helping us organize everything, we appreciate each and everyone of you!
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THE GIVING TREE
The Giving Tree of Temple Beth El brings many members of the community together to support children all over the county, including BFF kids for the past 7 years. "Each and every year as the holidays approach we return to our motto of, 'One Need, One Life, One Day at a Time' and hope that we are bringing a smile to those who are far less fortunate than we are. We're just trying to spread a little joy, and since giving is so easy, we are committed to our program" says
Judy Gordon from The Giving Tree.
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CAMPUS MANAGEMENT
Campus Management has partnered with us for the past few years in a variety of ways. They have provided holiday pajamas for all of our kids, pairing each of their employees with a BFF student so that everyone could participate. In addition to the gifts, this year a group of volunteers spent a morning helping us to organize our Christmas cookies for the holiday party. Thank you Campus Management for all that you do!!
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BF ELF: THE GIFT of GIVING
It is wonderful to be able to provide gifts to all our students, but what is equally special is being able to provide them with the opportunity to experience giving themselves. That is where our BF ELF program comes in. Three
years ago, we implemented BF ELF and it is by far one of our their favorite programs. Every student chooses someone they would like to give a holiday gift to, and they choose exactly what they want to give them, up to a $20 value. Their choices are interesting and range from their bus driver or teacher to their foster mom or roommate.
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CLICK for more PICS |
Led by board members Jennifer Jager and Lisa Wheeler, each student is paired with a donor, who generously shops for the gift on the student's
behalf, purchasing
exactly what they ask for. The coaches then bring the gifts to school, along with a variety of wrapping paper, bows and cards. They choose the card and the wrapping paper and actually wrap the gift themselves. For most kids, this is the first time they have ever wrapped a present. They have a great time, and are able to experience the joy of giving. It brings more meaning to the holidays for everyone involved!
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We are so proud of David for accomplishing something only 3% of youth in foster care accomplish- college graduation! Now that he has his Bachelor's Degree from Florida Atlantic University (Go Owls!), he is considering a Master's Degree as his next step. David has been with BFF since he was a sophomore in high school, and now he is helping us by motivating our younger students and inspiring them to reach for the stars!
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What an amazing opportunity and experience for BFF
to participate
in the Owls For Good project at Florida Atlantic University. We were honored to be selected by Alex Oliveira from Prediq Media and Dr. Ann Root to be the focus of their marketing class last semester. The students worked on various social media campaigns, culminating in their final presentations with full digital marketing plans for us.
Here are some of their quotes from their final presentations: "Experiencing what a non profit organization like Best Foot Forward does has been very rewarding as we were able to gain real world digital marketing experience while also making a difference"; "Helping Best Foot Forward has really opened our eyes regarding the lack of academic opportunities for children in Foster Care. We are very happy we had the opportunity of helping such an amazing organization."
We think we learned more from them than they did from us!
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THANK YOU for helping us win over $2,200!
Thank you to all who voted for us during the giving campaign at the Deerfield Target. We received over $2,200 to help us further our mission of providing opportunities to children in foster care,
thanks to your generous votes. This donation came from a larger pool of over $200,000 donated from Target to charities across the country in participating locations.
Again, to everyone who participated, spread the word and shared the love, thank you!
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