Brave
Heart volunteers packed these Christmas gifts this past Christmas for
boys and girls in Louisiana's foster care system. Social workers say a
Brave Heart bear often helps to calm a young child during a very
traumatic experience.
By Julie Baxter
"If I only had a bear..."
These were the words over Sunday dinner four years ago. Dee Robinson sat talking with her niece, Christy. Christy was a social worker at the Office of Community Services in Livingston Parish.
She told her aunt how a yo ung girl was pulled from her home due to abuse and neglect. She cried herself to sleep in Christy’s office while Christy worked to find the girl a foster home.
Robinson looked at her niece and said, "Well, if someone just had a bear to give that child..."
If Someone Had a Bear
Robinson and her husband George soon bought a bear, and from this grew "Brave Heart Children in Need."
Four years later, Brave Heart is in 26 parishes. Today Brave Heart makes personalized, age-appropriate backpacks that go directly to the Office of Community Service in each parish. Social workers give these bags to children in the foster care system as something they can call their very own.
"Most often, these children are pulled out of a traumatic environment due to abuse or neglect, from the only home they know," Robinson said. “They come to the social worker's office with literally nothing but the clothes on their back."
Thousands Need Help
More than 8, 000 children live in Louisiana's state-run foster care system each year. Brave Heart serves more than 4,000 of those children.
"What we're finding is that these personalized bags not only give the children something to take their mind off the trauma of this hour in their lives…but it also is helping to reduce the level of anger in these children," Robinson said.
In each backpack, Brave Heart places a Brave Heart bear, a personalized hygiene bag that gives the child their own toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and shampoo, a school box of school supplies, a book, a toy and a coloring book.
The StoreHouse on Sherwood Forest Boulevard in Baton Rouge has donated four storage units where Brave Heart keeps donated supplies.
Teaching Children
"We have all kinds of groups...coming to help us pack these bags for these children," Robinson said. "We hear from parents and teachers who say that they love the opportunity to teach children about giving back."
In 2007, the Office of Community Services served 608 foster children in the six parishes surrounding Baton Rouge, 1,503 children in Covington, 579 children in Thibodaux and 1,348 children in Lafayette. Now the hope is to serve more than 600 children in the Monroe region.
Brave Heart has also expanded its services to include graduation and birthday gifts for foster children who live in group homes. There is also a project that brings Christmas gifts to foster children.
You Can Help
Brave Heart holds only one fundraiser each year. The Cherish the Children Gala is hosted at White Oak Plantation. The event includes a dinner specially prepared by Chef John Folse, a live auction including a trip to Napa Valley, California, a silent auction and theme tables with prizes worth more than $500. More than 600 people come to the event each year. First Lady Supriya Jindal will be the Honorary Chair.
"I've talked to adults who grew up in the foster care system who have told me what a difference Brave Heart's gift would have made to them," Robinson said. "What we want to do is make that difference."
To purchase tickets, call Brave Heart at 296-0000 or visit www.braveheartchildren.org and click on "Fundraiser." The link will take you to Black Tie's non-profit ticket purchasing site, where you can purchase the tickets directly on Brave Heart's June 10, 2008 "Cherish the Children" event. Tickets cost $50.