25,000 children entering foster care to receive comfort kits from expanded Children's Aid Foundation of Canada's Ted and Loretta Rogers Foster Care Comfort Kit Program
Kits include essential items that provide comfort and support for babies, kids and teens entering foster care
TORONTO, Oct. 20, 2020 /CNW/ - Children's Aid Foundation of Canada's Ted and Loretta Rogers Foster Care Comfort Kit Program will now reach even more children entering foster care across the country thanks to a $5 million gift to the program in honour of Ted and Loretta Rogers. The generous donation will enable the program to provide 25,000 children entering the child welfare system across Canada with comfort kits aimed at improving their well-being during a time of tremendous uncertainty in their lives.
"Children who are removed from an unsafe situation may have to leave their home at a moment's notice with nothing but the clothes on their back or with very few personal belongings. This can make an already traumatic experience even more terrifying and disarming," says Valerie McMurtry, President and CEO, Children's Aid Foundation of Canada, the country's leading charity devoted to improving the lives of children and youth involved with the child welfare system. "The expansion of the Ted and Loretta Rogers Foster Care Comfort Kit Program will allow us to support more children with items that can offer them comfort and provide a sense of familiarity and security during a time of great upheaval."
The kits that Children's Aid Foundation of Canada's Ted and Loretta Rogers Foster Care Comfort Kit Program provides are filled with age-appropriate items and supplies that are customized to the needs of the individual child – whether they are a baby or a teenager. Some of the items in the comfort kits include: personal care and hygiene products, children's books, warm weather accessories, cuddly blankets and teddy bears. In addition, the comfort kit program provides funds to participating child welfare agencies to purchase additional items in order to personalize the kits for children and youth coming into care.
"It's wonderful to see this meaningful program grow and have an impact on so many children in need," says Loretta Rogers, wife of the late Ted Rogers. "I know it would have made Ted proud to be part of an initiative that helps vulnerable children across Canada."
Since the launch of the Ted and Loretta Rogers Foster Care Comfort Kit Program in 2014, 17,500 comfort kits have been provided to children across Canada. The comfort kits will be delivered by Children's Aid Foundation of Canada's National Moving Partner, AMJ Campbell, to 30 child welfare agencies across Canada, where they will be distributed to children and youth in their local communities.
About Children's Aid Foundation of Canada
Children's Aid Foundation of Canada is our country's leading charity dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth involved in the child welfare system. We raise and grant funds and deliver a wide range of high-impact programs and services in partnership with 72 child- and youth-serving agencies across the country that support more than 19,300 vulnerable young people and 4,200 families annually. Stand Up for Kids is our national public movement uniting caring Canadians in changing the futures of our nation's most vulnerable kids - those who have experienced abuse and neglect. We know that by helping these young people to overcome their trauma and break the cycle for future generations, they gain the strength and resilience to create a lifetime of their own unstoppable successes. Find out more at cafdn.org.
SOURCE Children's Aid Foundation of Canada
Lisa Lipkin, Lisa Lipkin Communications, [email protected]; 416-988-4189
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