Every other month, Spokane Angels creates an opportunity for community members to provide one time support to families on our waitlist. These seasonal Love Boxes often come with a theme. As you may expect, our Holiday Love Boxes are eagerly awaited by individuals who keep this tradition on their list year after year. Hilary is one of those special individuals who looks forward to supporting a family each holiday through the love Box Program.

​This year, Hilary was blessed to support the Tulson Family:

The Tulson family has 8 children, they've been on our Love Box waitlist for over a year due to their large family. They were matched with a volunteer named Hilary for their Holiday Love Box. When we match families with volunteers we try to ask questions to help the volunteer shop for the family intentionally.

​Hilary did a great job of thoughtfully picking out gifts for all the children and the family to enjoy together. The Tulson family says they are so grateful for the support Spokane Angels offers them in their fostering journey. Hilary enjoys putting together seasonal one time Love Boxes for families in foster care, this is the fifth one she's done and she says shopping for and delivering the Holiday Love Box each year is one of her favorite parts of the Christmas season. 

At the beginning of November, our Case Manager, Melody received a heart-wrenching referral for a young refugee woman in extended foster care who was experiencing immense financial hardship following the recent illness of her 18-month-old daughter. She stayed home to care for her sick little one, missing work, resulting in an inability to purchase basic necessities for herself and her daughter. This young woman was a recent referral and had not yet been matched with a Mentor, but her need was immediate.
 
Melody knew what to do – call upon our Spokane Angels Community. We posted this immediate need on our social media channels and within hours every need had been filled. Our excitement for this story comes from our deep appreciation for our community. 
 
Our Spokane Angels Community is made up of Spokane community members, foster parents, and Spokane Angel volunteers. We are so blessed to have such a connected community that truly cares about the youth and families experiencing foster care in Spokane. We know that without our community, much of what we accomplish would not be possible.
 
We are constantly humbled and amazed at the hearts of our community. YOU make a difference! 
 
“Alone, we can do so little. Together, we can do so much.” Helen Keller
 
Learn more about how to get involved in the Spokane Angels Community, by reaching out to our Executive Director, Amber Swain. There is truly room for everyone with a heart to give, in whatever capacity fits best.

​Every so often, families on our waitlist have pressing needs that encourage us to reach out to our volunteer community in an attempt to fill that need. 

This is a story about a group of volunteers who went above and beyond for two very special families on our waitlist.

In October Spokane Angels put out an ask on social media for two, one-time Love Boxes for families in foster care who had recently applied to our Love Box program. Since the families were both on our waitlist, they were not receiving the support of monthly love boxes. Both of the families had similar immediate needs, groceries (or funds for groceries), household staples, and clothes for their children (or funds for clothing). We immediatey had at least five volunteers reach out and volunteer to help as needed. One volunteer graciously took on one of the families with a Love Box filled with Fall and Halloween themed activities, as well as several gift cards so they could go shopping for the 4 kids in the home. For the other family, three volunteers worked together to collect some household items like groceries, cleaning supplies, and hygeine products. Several of the volunteers also included gift cards for groceries and gas. The single foster mom and two kids who we collected the items for was overjoyed to receive the Love Box, and said it came just when they needed it. 

Thank you to our volunteers for showing up for families in foster care! You are making the difference!

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