Hi, my name is Holly Nichols and I am posting on behalf of Tennessee Alliance for Kids, otherwise known as TAK. We are a local nonprofit that engages the community to meet the emergent and ongoing needs of children in foster care, those at risk of coming into foster care, and those aging out. Since starting in 2016, TAK has had over a $4.9 million impact on the foster care community that exists right here in our own backyards. I am also a local (Brentwood) foster and adoptive momma, and I know just how much this impact means! 

Today I am reaching out specifically about an event that we at TAK are honored to get to help out with called Fostering Hope at Church of the City Spring Hill. Fostering Hope will be Saturday, December 4th from 9 am - 4 pm. Christmas is a difficult time for children in the foster care system as well as the families that are caring for them. Thus, Fostering Hope was born a few years back. It is COTC’s desire, along with collaborative partners such as ourselves, to help take some of the pressure off by helping with Christmas gifts.

This year we are wanting to bring in “experience gifts”, on top of the physical presents. My husband and I both LOVE this idea, as we much more prefer to gift experiences to form memories with to our family and friends rather than actual tangible gifts. 

My ask to you today: Would you consider donating any passes or whatever you feel like you have the capacity for to this event supporting our most vulnerable, future generations and families? Fostering Hope has grown fairly quickly over the last few years, and we are projecting there to be around 300 children represented at this event. One of the things that I love so much about Fostering Hope as an adoptive AND biological mom is the fact that every child in a foster family gets gifts, regardless of if they are a foster child or not. This is so vitally important to us foster parents, as we want all of our children to feel cherished, important, seen, and equal. When we say yes to the call of fostering, it’s our family unit saying yes together, and our biological children play a huge role as we take in children to our homes and treat them and love on them as our own.

Thank you for your time and consideration.