ROCHESTER, Minn. - A group in Rochester is coming together to help out families that it shares a common passion with... foster care.
Foster Caring and Sharing was created a month ago by families who personally know the struggles foster children face everyday and have a passion for giving back to other foster families. Since then, it's grown into a huge community effort. Krystle and Matthew Gathje have been foster parents in the past and they say it's even more crucial now that the kids are shown love and hope during these uncertain times.
Foster Caring and Sharing is on a mission to provide 200 gift bags full of essential items. A tub gets filled up with items that people in the community have donated, then a pillow case gets packed with those items to be handed over to help out these families. Krystle said supporting these families shouldn't stop here, though. "There's always a need. There's always a need to help the foster care community," explained Krystle. "When we were foster parents, we were blessed by that. So we just wanted to give back a little bit that's been given to us." The Gathje's want to go beyond those bags if possible to really help out the entire family. "We're hoping to also have like a meal at least and possibly some other gift cards and coupons for the family unit," said Matthew.
The Gathje's told KIMT 100% of the donations given during the month of May will go directly to Olmsted County foster families in June. However, they're hoping to do this again later on in the year. There are multiple different drop off locations throughout Rochester where you can donate items to. For more information, you can visit the website.
