Join Utah Foster Care at the Davis Conference Center on Dec. 18 from 9 a.m. – noon for their annual Breakfast with Santa fundraiser event. Families are invited to come meet all of their favorite characters with special appearances by: Santa, the Grinch, Cindy Lou Who, and Anna and Elsa. There will also be a variety of activities for kids, such as face painting, letters on the tables that can be written to Santa along with Christmas cookies to decorate. The event is sponsored by Swier Coca-Cola. Food will be served by the Davis Conference Center.

Utah Foster Care invites you to fill your hearts with the true meaning of Christmas as they raise money to ensure that every child in foster care can pursue their passion. Money you donate will help support a Utah foster child play a sport, learn an instrument, or learn an art. You can also sponsor a foster child and their family so that they can attend the event as well or sponsor a Christmas gift for a foster child. 

“This is our 4th year hosting this event with the Davis Conference Center. Every year, it is really inspiring because people always come through to donate and it’s profound.” said Dan Webster the Director of Foster-Adoptive Family Recruitment for the Utah Foster Care State office in Murray. 

This event is to raise awareness about Utah Foster Care, to get new sponsors in the community and to raise funds. “The funds raised will go to help our foster kids to enjoy some normal experiences, during this abnormal time in their lives,” said Webster. Creating access for our foster kids to play sports, play an instrument, or make art can be such a healing outlet and help kids to develop more positive attachments with their caregivers. 

Utah Foster Care has been serving Utah foster kids for the last 22 years. Webster and his team work with Child and Family services to help recruit and train foster families. “We train new foster families about trauma and attachment and host on-going support groups for our current foster parents,” he said. “We also host continued training for foster parents on working with the state system and overcoming barriers to successful fostering.” 

The team also works to raise awareness of the need for more foster parents in the community. “We meet one-on-one with potential foster parents to help them decide if foster care is a good fit for them,” said Webster. “It usually takes three-five months for an interested foster family to be able to host their first child. It can take time, but we support them every step of the way.” 

To register for this event, call the Davis Conference Center at 801-416-8888. If you are interested in becoming a potential foster parent or to learn more about Utah Foster Care check out their website at Utahfostercare.org. To help support Utah foster kids directly you can go to Utahfostercare.org/donate. You can also follow them on social media.