April 2020
KEYS TO SUCCESS VIRTUAL WALK
Two weeks ago, our Keys to Success Youth Advisory Board kicked off their inaugural Virtual Walk. The Youth Advisory Board consists of Keys to Success graduates who use their experiences to make the KTS program better for youth in foster care. We're happy to say the YAB is close to meeting their goal to raise $10,000 by May 31!

What exactly is a Virtual Walk? It’s a way to participate at your own pace. You decide when, where and how to walk, run or hike. Walk around your neighborhood, your backyard, on your treadmill. You decide how much you'll walk. Or how creative you'll get by wearing a costume as you
#DotheVirtualWalk !

You sign up and pay the $35 registration fee and AFFCF will send you a Virtual Walk T-shirt. You’ll get access to your own fundraising page that you can share with everyone you know to help raise funds or even to participate along with you. It's so easy!

Not sure about fundraising? Not to worry! We created a Virtual Walk Toolkit that will guide you every step of the way. To keep you motivated through May 31, we're handing out prizes to the top participant in the following categories:

  1. Most Funds Raised
  2. Most Miles Walked
  3. Most Creative Costume

Your participation in and/or donation to the    2020 Keys to Success Virtual Walk   helps fund critical services such as career development and employment services. It means youth in the program can learn job interviewing skills, how to write a resume and get help finding a job. It means they can get help with education so they can graduate or earn their GED. It means they can connect to resources and services that help them either go to college or trade school and have a career. It means everything.

Join the our Youth Advisory Board and #DotheVirtualWalk so kids in foster care can run!
SUPPORTING OUR POST-SECONDARY SCHOLARS
Finals week is coming up! Thanks to the generosity of the Subaru Superstore of Chandler, we filled and mailed 71 finals 'care packages' to AFFCF post-secondary scholars at ASU, U of A, Pima Community College, GCU, NAU, the Maricopa Community Colleges, Athens Technical College, Easter New Mexico University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Central Arizona
College. Packages included all the goodies
for a successful finals week:

  • $20 Starbucks gift card,
  • note of encouragement,
  • Ramen noodles,
  • candy,
  • granola bars,
  • Oreo cookies,
  • Cheez-Its,
  • trail mix,
  • and socks!

We've got two packages ready to go for students at UC San Diego and BYU - Idaho who are on a trimester schedule and will have final exams in June. Good luck, AFFCF scholars. We're cheering for you!
Late last month, the #LoveUp Foundation reached out to ask how they could help. Of course, we thought of our post-secondary scholars, some of the first to lose their jobs during this COVID-19 pandemic. #LoveUp came through with grocery gift cards for 73 scholars.

Some of the most vulnerable people during this pandemic are youth who've aged out of foster care and can't 'call home' for help. We're grateful for the donors who step up and fill in those gaps.
Now more than ever AFFCF scholars need your help. Your donation today can ensure that a youth who has aged out of foster has someone to rely during this difficult time.
AFFCF SUPPORTS STUDENTS WITH TECHNOLOGY
When schools were closed and classrooms statewide moved to online instruction, AFFCF was there for students in foster care who did not have the technology they needed to continue their education. Current education outcomes for youth in foster care are already poor; we wanted to do what we could to prevent students in foster care from slipping further behind. Over the past four weeks, we've given away 76 refurbished Chromebooks, 26 donated by Gina Lidster of ER2 - Transforming Technology Solutions, through a connection with a CASA, Leslie Gospill and 50 purchased by AFFCF for this purpose.
The generosity of our donors allows AFFCF to step up for kids in foster care even more during times of crisis. Help us continue to be there for them by making a donation to AFFCF today.