Mountain Circle Social Worker Curtis picks out the perfect gift!

Every year, Mountain Circle Social Workers from our Susanville, Greenville, Chico, and Reno offices meet with the children and youth in our programs to identify their Christmas wish lists. While we can’t always provide the kids with everything that they are hoping for, we do our very best to make the holidays feel special for each and every child in care.

Sometimes, our staff bring along their own children to help out. Getting your family involved with Mountain Circle is a great way to teach important lessons about gratitude! 🙂

This year, we began our ‘shopping’ at Toys for Tots (TFT) in Susanville, California. The generous, and incredibly hardworking, group of volunteers at TFT ensured all of the little ones on our lists were well taken care of. They even had a few gifts for our teens, which is unusual.

As we left, one volunteer asked if we could send them photos of the children with their new toys. We get this request a lot, and we WISH we could show you their happy faces! Unfortunately, due to the fact that they are in foster care, their names and faces must remain completely confidential.

We are so grateful for the kindness of this community! Foster children and teens have been through a lot, and providing them a few gifts on Christmas morning is one small act we can do to help them feel more ‘normal.’ Unfortunately, we still have a great need for gifts for our older teens. We know teens can be tough to buy for, so the very best gift is often a gift card. Generally, something in the $25 range is more than sufficient.

Remember, the holidays are often the very hardest on older foster kids- let’s make sure they feel special and loved on Christmas morning!

 Handmade quilts to help them feel warm and cozy!

What is on our Social Worker’s wish list? Their most urgent request is for gifts of duffle bags and/or large backpacks. Oftentimes, foster children must move from one home to another, with their belongings placed in garbage bags.

Mountain Circle believes a foster child’s belongings are precious (and so are they!), and transporting the few things they own should be done with the utmost of care and respect. Sometimes, the best we can do to support kids during this difficult journey is to provide them with appropriate luggage for their next step.

Can you help us make a difference this Christmas? 

Gifts or donations may be brought to any of our foster care and adoption offices in Chico, Reno, Susanville, or Greenville, or mailed to P.O. Box 554 Greenville, CA 95947.

Thank you so much!