Foster care event helps out for a good cause
Aid to Adoption of Special Kids (AASK) will be hosting an event on Saturday, May 7 at the Steele Indian School Park. Registration starts at 7:30 a.m., and the event will run till 10:30 a.m. The event, called the Family Fun Walk, takes place every year, event for all ages, including drinks, music, games, and much more. The event, a 1.5-mile walk, is intended to raise money for AASK’s programs to help build relationships with children in foster care. AASK is a privately-owned nonprofit organization that was founded in 1988. In addition to raising money for these children, the walk is also meant to increase awareness of how many children are in foster care.
The website fosterclub.com gives a breakdown of how many children are in foster care. As of 2014, over 415,000 children were in foster care, and the 264,746 children who enter care every year translates to one child being placed in foster care every two minutes. According to the same site, in 2014, over 60,000 children were waiting to find a new place to call home, with this number continuing to grow. These children range in gender, race and age, and many will be faced with being taken away from their unfit homes, leaving all of their belongings and pets in the process. Once these children become teens, they can look forward to getting their licenses at age 16, but most states do not allow foster care teens to get their driver’s license for a variety of reasons.
As for young adults who turn 18 in foster care, some only receive a plastic bag of their belongings and are sent to find a new place to live. The event is to help these children and teens that are in foster care to find a place to feel safe, where they can grow up and feel at home. For more information on this event, visit familyfunwalk.org. Details on AASK and its programs can be found at aask-az.org.
