Our HerosBusinesses
Honoring Best Buy: Gift for a Child works closely with many businesses both locally and nationally to help support youth in foster care and those transitioning out with needed real life preparation. Last year when we launched our Real Life Preparation Program. Best Buy Corporation stepped in to education foster youth graduating from high school about how to make the best purchasing decisions.
Honoring RIM (Research in Motion): When we needed help to support youth graduating from high school Research in Motion was quietly there to provide support.
Individuals
Honoring Beth Blaisdell: It takes extraordinary people to give their time and talents to help meet the needs of children in foster care. When a senior executive from a fortune 500 company donates her time to help foster youth, the impact is more than incredible. It is life saving and changing. Beth Blaisdell pulled together a team of senior leaders from the business community to raise money and support to help foster youth. Beth mobilized individuals and businesses into action and her efforts provided Gift for a Child with funding and resources to support over 1,500 children in foster care the last three years. This year we honor Beth as one of our Chief Gift Givers.
Organizations
Honoring the State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers: Over the last few years Gift for a Child has worked side by side with an incredible group of attorneys that volunteer their time to help organize and host the annual Celebration of Excellence graduation event for foster youth. Every year with other partners this group works tireless behind the scenes never seeking credit for themselves.
Celebrities
Honoring Ne Yo: He's a Grammy award winning singer, a songwriter, composer, and producer and yet many may not know about the number of hours he donates quietly to help children in foster care. He took time out of his day during Real Life Preparation to talk to 250 graduating youth about their lives and their future.
Photographers
Honoring Kathy Nesbit: She was one of the original photographers to donate her time to spend a day with youth in care to paint a memory through her beautiful photographs of children in care. The first time she joined our cause, Kathy photographed more than 26 youth. Since that time more than 100 youth were professionally photographed by Kathy and many now are with their forever family.
Foster Authors
Honoring Regina Lousie: She is the author of the bestselling Memoir "Somebody's Someone" and she is raising her voice and using her writing to advocate for foster care.
Living in well over 30 foster homes, group homes and psychiatric facilities, and over coming dangerous withdrawals from inaccurately prescribed drugs, Regina took charge of her life. After missing many years of formal education and labeled “below-average or marginal at best,†Regina’s optimism and perseverance helped her become a clear definition of resilience. She is a now successful business woman and author.
Regina devotes her life to helping others. She tours the nation speaking on behalf of children, resilience, and being your best. She not only touches, motivates and inspires her listeners to want to stand and shout—but she leaves them with the sheer hope of possibility.
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