Pine View students foster hope with donation drive

The basic essentials of socks and underwear can be taken for granted when access is as easy as a trip to the store. But for the children who are taken into foster care — sometimes in the middle of the night — that isn’t always the case.

More than 300 children are currently in foster care throughout the Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties, according to the Safe Children Coalition. Often, as children are placed with foster families, they arrive with little more than the clothes they are wearing, leaving families responsible to provide clothing and essentials such as socks and underwear.

For some families caring for multiple foster children, purchasing new clothes may not fit into a budget. Pine View School freshman Hayes Leaver decided to help by starting the Foster Hope Socks and Underwear Drive to donate to the Safe Children Coalition. She enlisted the help of her friends and classmate Lauren Yenari for the cause.

“She texted me a few weeks ago asking to help and I said sure because I had met a ton of Hayes’ foster siblings and I just thought it would be a cool thing to do,” Yenari said. “A lot of people have come up to us and told us, ‘This is so cool.’”

Leaver and her family have seen the impact of what a fresh start could mean for a foster child. The Leaver family has housed and helped a total of 16 children in the five years.

“I would like for kids to not have to worry about it all,” Leaver said. “When they come into [foster] care they always have so much to think about so they shouldn’t have to worry about such basic things. The kids can get gently used clothes and that’s fine, but socks and underwear should be new.”

When Katherine and Brian Leaver made the decision to become a foster family, they approached an 8-year-old Hayes for her feedback. Initially, Hayes asked her parents if they could just give money to help, but living with foster siblings has changed her perspective.

“It’s been a huge part of my life since I was 8 years old, seeing kids pass through our home at different times,” Leaver said. “It’s hard to see them go, and you can’t really do anything about it. This is a way that I can connect to them.”

The Leavers were so moved to help that they have adopted the first child who was placed with them five years ago when she was 7 months old.

Katherine Leaver is a stay-at-home mom, which allows her to provide care for younger children.

“Oftentimes we’ll take kids straight from the hospital because there are very few foster parents who aren’t working full-time that can care for babies,” Katherine Leaver said. “A lot of times kids come late at night. We’re fortunate that we do have extra money to go out and buy things, but many foster families are not like that. Some families have kids coming in and out on a regular basis, so it makes it tough.”

The Foster Hope Socks and Underwear Drive is asking for packages of new socks and underwear in all sizes. There is a demand for larger sizes as well.

Donation Box locations
• The Safe Children Coalition
1500 Independence Blvd., Suite 210
371-4799

• Sarasota YMCA Branches
Frank G. Berlin Sr. branch
1075 S. Euclid Ave.
955-8194

Evalyn Sadlier Jones branch
8301 Potter Park Drive
922-9622

• Church of the Redeemer
222 S. Palm Ave.
955-4263

• Church of the Palms
3224 Bee Ridge Road
924-1323