Now that it's the holiday season, people are starting to think about gifts and presents for friends and family members.
Many of us also start thinking about ways to give to others, whether that's by giving money to a charity organization, volunteering at a local food bank, or donating clothing and other items to a shelter.
This year, you should think about all the children who don't have stable families to celebrate with.
Rayn Boncie, a former foster child, thinks everyone should remember that there are a lot of kids who don't just want toys and fun presents, they want things like warm coats, consistent meals, and stable parents.
Many families struggle to make ends meet, but some children don't have families at all. To help these kids, Rayn started an organization called Things of My Very Own, Inc.
This year, children wrote their holiday gift wishes onto notes, and many are absolutely heartbreaking.
Rayn shared her story on the Facebook page Love What Matters, where it immediately got a lot of attention.
In less than a week, the post had over 32,000 reactions and over 32,000 shares.
Rayn wrote:
When I was 14-years-old I was placed in the foster care system.
A few months later, another foster child arrived. She was also 14 and came in wearing clothing that would have fit a small 9-year-old.
I remember seeing her change for bed and noticed reddish-purplish welts on her skin. Her clothing had literally injured her.
I made a silent promise to her that day, that when I grew up, I would do something to help children like her and me.
I started Things of My Very Own, Inc. out of my home in 2008 in order to bridge the gap between what social service entities were able to provide and what children need.
In 2010, we served 5,892 individuals. Now, we are in a 20,000 square foot building and I'm quite certain that this is going to be a record-breaking year.
This year we decided to create tags that list the specific wishes of children in our area.
None of them list the year's hottest toy. Instead, they list children's innermost hopes and dreams: 'a Dad,' 'new clothes so I won't get picked on,' or something as simple as 'a comb.'
Perhaps most heart-wrenching was the teen boy who asked for feminine hygiene products for his younger sister, so she wouldn’t have to keep missing school.
Every tag is connected to a child who wants to believe that someone in the world cares about their well-being.
If we can show them for one moment that someone put their needs ahead of their own, maybe they will finally believe that what they have endured does not need to define who they grow up to be.
For many of these children, we are the spark of hope that lights up their otherwise dark world. Many individuals and businesses have already stepped up, asking for tags; and for these children, we hope it is only the beginning.
Everyone who saw the gift requests were completely blown away. One woman wrote:
As someone whom [sic] was in the foster care system, this literally means everything to these kids. With everything being taken away from them, the simplest of necessities are a luxury. I remember when I got my first very own brush. I sat that brush out to stare at it for days. Having that brush meant so much more than not having to worry about brushing my hair. It meant that I was in a stable enough environment to be able to afford a brush of my own, so I knew there was enough money for food and clothes. It’s honestly the littlest of things that most of us take for granted that mean the most to these kids.
Other people were so inspired by this post that they reached out to their children's schools to ask if there was anything they could do to help out some of the less fortunate kids.
Many people ended up donating snacks and gifts for kids in their very own community because of this one simple post.
If you're inspired by Rayn's story and her organization, please SHARE this article with your friends!
