As the countdown to the end of the school year continues for many, for Becky’s Kids, a nonprofit group that organizes back-to-school shopping trips for children and mentors teens in the Arkansas foster care system, it’s time to gear up as May is Foster Care Awareness Month.
Becky’s Kids was founded in March 2011 as a memorial to Rebecca Moser Hickerson and soon began connecting with the 42 children who were then in foster care in Izard County.
“These kids have no one in their lives, no encouragement,” said Jessica Eldred, one of the organization’s founders. “They need people who will be there for them.”
Becky’s Kids’ first project was a back-to-school shopping trip. Volunteer “shopping buddies” took the children to buy school supplies and clothes. Becky’s Kids now also has mentors for teens in foster care. A mentor stays connected to one teen through phone calls, visits, and going on outings and to school activities.
Eldred’s mother is Becky’s Kids co-founder Ann Moser, who talked about her daughter Rebecca.
“In 1986, Becky started working with children in foster care at the DHS (Department of Human Services) office in Melbourne,” Moser said.
“To her, it wasn’t just a job. She would do anything for those kids. When she died of breast cancer in 1992, people gave us donations in her memory,” Moser said.
“We wanted to honor Becky’s memory by doing something for foster children,” Eldred said. “We worked with the Division of Children and Family Services under DHS. The director, Cecile Blucker, said that when these kids go back to school, they don’t have new clothes or nice backpacks.”
Through newspaper articles and personal contact, Becky’s mother and sister raised money and recruited volunteers.
“The response was tremendous,” Eldred said. “Our donors are individuals, churches, businesses and organizations. People who donated when we started still send us checks. Churches invite us to speak and then take up a collection.”
For the annual shopping trips, DCFS arranges for caseworkers and foster parents to drive the children to Jonesboro to shop.
“Each year, we raise about $250 for each child to spend. In the morning, we meet with the kids at a church. First, we do a craft together, and then we eat pizza. This lets the shopping buddy get to know their child,” Eldred said.
“In the afternoon, we meet at Walmart and then go to Old Navy and Rack Room Shoes. When the kids realize they get to pick their own clothes, the joy goes down through them and bounces off into their shopping buddy. They ask, ‘Do I really get to keep this stuff?’ The most important thing they get from that day is being loved, having someone invest time into them,” Eldred said.
“On the first trip, my son Shayne was a shopping buddy,” Moser said. “He had this little boy. They bonded. When we met the kids at Old Navy, Shayne got lost and was late. This little boy looked and looked, and finally he said, ‘Shayne’s probably not going to come back for me, neither.’ I said, ‘Oh, yes, he’ll be here.’ When the boy saw Shayne, you should have seen the look on his face. ‘He came back, he didn’t leave, he wanted me!’ Our shopping buddies come back every year. They want the same child as last year.”
Becky’s Kids leaders teach the volunteers to be patient with the children.
“We never ask, but some of the kids want to tell their personal stories,” Eldred said. “You can’t imagine what they have been through.”
Last year, Becky’s Kids began mentoring teens in foster care.
“Most teens live in group homes or facilities,” Eldred said. “Some have been in foster care for years. They are moved frequently. Every move is a new family or facility, a new school, a new counselor.”
Becky’s Kids needs mentors and tutors.
“We train volunteers to work directly with the teens — go along to teacher conferences, take them to school activities, take them home for the holidays. Be in touch by phone. The No. 1 thing these kids need is love. It takes time for them to trust you. ‘Will you be gone tomorrow?’ The mentor has to be there consistently, believing in them, giving them hope.”
Among the mentors for the organization is Debbie Bales.
“I started as a shopping buddy,” Bales said. “It affected my heart when Jessica talked about the needs these teens have. In September 2015, she paired me with a young man who was living in a facility in Little Rock. I went to see him every other weekend.
“He was on the robotics team at high school. Just as the team started competitions, DCFS moved him to Monticello. I took him to see his team compete with the robot he helped build. Since then, he’s had six more placements. Now he’s in Batesville.”
Bales visits the young man often. “He gets a day pass, and I take him to a movie or shopping,” Bales said.
At Christmas, she drove to Monticello, brought him back to Melbourne for the day and drove him home that evening.
“We are looking for people in counties and towns to start Becky’s Kids organizations in their area,” Eldred said. “It takes someone who has the same experience I did, when you know this is something you can’t walk away from.”
A county or town organization can start with a shopping trip or a church activity. Becky’s Kids has some programs in Northwest Arkansas.
“If you have a heart for serving kids, I have a way you can help. We have people who donate money. Others say, ‘I’ll give you a day for a shopping trip,’” Eldred said.
“I may ask someone to bake a cake for a kid. We had a young man who wanted to go to prom. We got Miss
Arkansas Pam Billingsley to be his date, and we rented a limo for them,” Eldred said.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s also the greatest blessing,” she said.
“People don’t realize what the kids give back to us,” Bales said. “You see their accomplishments; you know where they were and what they’ve walked through. That inspires me.”
To donate, be a volunteer or start a Becky’s Kids in your area, visit www.beckyskids.org; call Eldred at (479) 586-3210 or Moser at (870) 291-7555; or send donations to P.O. Box 770, Melbourne, AR 72556.
Information can also be found at www.facebook.com/beckys-kids and www.childwelfare.gov/fostercaremonth.