Foster kids get their Christmas wish thanks to Fort Worth group

The 26-year-old Christmas Wish Project will make the season brighter this year for several hundred foster children in Tarrant County.

Founded by former Fort Worth City Council member Becky Haskin in 1988, the program led by five women, including Haskin, raises funds and collects toys to make wishes come true for many children who have never had a bountiful Christmas before.

“They are angels. They are just angels,” said foster parent Arlene Sark, whose eight foster children will receive gifts on Christmas morning.

Last Christmas 920 foster children asked Santa Claus for a specific gift and had their wishes granted through the program. About the same number of children are expected to receive gifts this year, said Haskin.

Children who have often been in families where few Christmas gifts were available will receive bicycles, Lego sets, scooters, boom boxes and all kinds of toys. Teen-age foster children get $60 gift cards.

Haskin and a friend, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, got the project started more than two decades ago when they helped a mutual friend and a foster parent provide gifts for children in her care.

Granger still supports the program but isn’t closely involved because of her governmental duties.

Wendy Dalton, who has worked in the program since 1989, said the project keeps on growing.

“We started out with just a handful of kids, then it grew to about 100, then 200 and last year we had more than 900,” said Dalton, who is land manager with EOG Resources oil and gas company in Fort Worth, which contributes to the program and matches cash donations sent in.

Last year, the project, which operates only in November and December, raised almost $70,000, Haskin said. That amount did not include donated warehouse space, many individual toy and gift donations and the fact that there are no administrative costs. Leaders and volunteers work free.

“We spend money on toys and that’s it,” Haskin said. “What I think is so wonderful about Christmas Wish is that 100 percent of our donations are for the children. Children ask for a gift and they get it. We are able to make Christmas special for kids who need it most.”

Haskin sees first hand the needs of foster children since she is a court-appointed special advocate for children who are placed as foster children through Tarrant County Child Protective Services and other agencies.

“I want the children to know that people believe in them,” Haskin said. “I work with foster kids every day. I know what’s going on in their lives.”

Dalton, who runs the warehouse and helps raise funds, said donations come in many ways.

“Sometimes we will be in a store with a basketful of toys and someone finds out what we are doing and decides to make a donation,” she said. “The donations range from $10 to several thousand dollars. If someone wants to buy Christmas presents for a specific child we let them.”

Other leaders of Christmas Wish are Amy Helling, who is in charge of buying; Gail Tidwell, who handles applications and specific gift requests, mainly by computer; and Dawn Boswell Moore, an attorney, who helps raise funds and collects books to be given as gifts.

When the program first started Santa Claus handed out gifts at a party sponsored by the Foster Parents Association.

“We don‘t do that anymore, because we want the foster parents to be able to present the gifts on Christmas morning along with gifts to the rest of their family,” Haskin said. “That makes foster kids feel they are a part of the family.”

Sark said her eight foster children will be excited Christmas morning when they run down her stairs and see all the gifts. She’s been helped by the Christmas Wish Project for the last seven years.

“Our gifts are always from Santa,” she said. Seeing the children’s reactions to the gifts, she said, is sometimes “kind of pitiful but kind of wonderful.”

“Four years ago I had a little girl that was so excited on Christmas morning that she just broke into tears,” Sark said. “I had a boy about six years old on Christmas morning two years ago who was just sitting there watching everybody opening their gifts. I told him to open his gifts. He said ‘What gifts?’ He didn’t know they were for him.”

Foster parent Wanda Brewer praised the program.

“They just want to make a difference with kids,” Brewer said. “Many times foster children are neglected or abused and this is the first Christmas they’ve ever had.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Foster kids get their Christmas wish thanks to Fort Worth group."