SOS Foster Children Giving Thanks

Since opening our doors 17 years ago, SOS Children’s Villages – Florida helped raise more than 250 foster children, including the 72 boys and girls currently living at the Village. With so many children, it’s no wonder that the holidays are a special time of year and this Thanksgiving everyone has so much to be thankful for.

For many foster children, growing up in care means losing what little family and support system they had. So the traditional SOS Thanksgiving Dinner is a poignant family tradition that our entire SOS family enjoys. The large family celebration outgrew our community center three years ago and is now held at the Coral Springs Marriott sponsored by the Club Managers Association Seminole Region Charity Golf Tournament. Our Thanksgiving table will seat more than 170 guests this year including not only our staff and children, but our grown-up children who return home with their spouses and families.

Like every family, we spend the dinner catching up with each other, sharing news, celebrating triumphs and cooing over new babies. Every SOS home and every child has the chance to share what they are thankful for and this year’s blessings are many.

The children living at SOS are thankful for the donations that let them go to summer camp this past year and start the school year with new clothes and all of their school supplies. Andrew, age 14, is thankful for his new cleats and the chance to play on the school football team. Rachel, 13, is thankful that she had the chance to join the cheerleading squad and could afford all of her uniforms. Nina, 10, is thankful that she could jump from the second to the fourth grade, catching up with her peers in school, because of our weekly tutoring program. Kaleigh, 16, is thankful for the help she received finding part time job opportunities and preparing for her job interviews. Charles, 19, is thankful for his SOS case manager and his mentor who are helping him plan and prepare for what he is going to do when he graduates high school in June and moves out on his own.

But it is not just the children living at SOS Florida who are thankful for their Village family. Betzy, 23, is grateful for the assistance she received from the SOS After Care program, which helped her overcome a learning disability and get her first job this past summer. Tavares, 27, is celebrating two years as an entrepreneur thanks to the advice and assistance he received when starting his own car detailing business. Kelvin is thankful for his new apartment and affordable rent thanks to a partnership between SOS and Broward Housing Solutions. Melina and Ashley are thankful for the TIL internship program sponsored by the Community Foundation of Broward, which is helping them gain new skills while earning a part-time salary at Village.

And we are all thankful for the good friends and neighbors without whose support none of these precious gifts for our children would have been possible. In spite of tough times, we look ahead knowing that our SOS children - past, present, and future – will be blessed with our promise of healing, hope, and home for a long time to come.

SOS Children’s Villages - Florida is home to up to seventy-five foster children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment. The Village setting allows brothers and sisters, often separated in foster care, to be reunited. The nurturing and support that SOS provides prepares them to be productive members of society. SOS is accredited by the Council of Accreditation, recognizing its continuing high standards and the quality services provided to foster children. The Florida Village is part of a worldwide network of over 450 villages caring for disadvantaged children.