By Mike FinneyDOVER — The Fostering Wishes Foundation is an idea that popped into Donna Storan’s mind when she was listening to music and baking during the pandemic-driven lockdown in 2020.
The song “Hell Is For Children” by Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Pat Benatar began to play at her Wyoming home, where she has lived since 2007.
“This was my sign,” said Ms. Storan, founder and executive director of the Fostering Wishes Foundation, an advocacy group for foster children. “I even messaged Pat Benatar and told them this story. We were going to find a way to honor our friends by making it less of a hell for children.”
Ms. Storan had been aware of shortcomings that many children and young adults in foster care were facing.
For example, according to the Delaware Office of the Child Advocate, these kids are rarely able to participate in sports and activities with their peers because of their frequent moves.
She also pointed out that foster parents are not required to purchase gifts for those in their care.
Each child is afforded $150 by the state annually for “extras.” But such extras might not be gifts but Girl Scout fees, school books, socks, underwear or sneakers if the foster family can’t afford them.
Ms. Storan added that, when abused or neglected children are separated from their birth families, their belongings often get shoved into garbage bags when they move to a stranger’s home or group home.
So, she decided to do something about it. And the Benatar moment served as the impetus for the creation of Fostering Wishes, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the physical and mental health of kids in foster care by providing often-neglected requests.
It partners with Delaware Division of Family Services and the Office of the Child Advocate to grant wishes to the more than 500 foster children and young adults in their care.
“Foster parents don’t have to give gifts to kids in foster care,” Ms. Storan said. “They even have their own kids sitting in the same room as your foster kids and not have to give them anything — whether it be birthdays or holidays. Holidays are important to all kids.
“The little ones don’t believe that Santa’s going to come and bring bags of gifts, and we want to make that magic happen for these kids, whether they’re 4 or 17. They deserve to celebrate.”
Growing into a new home
Since 2020, the Fostering Wishes Foundation grew from Ms. Storan’s living room to a cramped outdoor storage unit. But now, it has found a home at a brick-and-mortar site in Dover.
The facility is a treasure trove for those in the foster system, with everything from bicycles and toys to clothing, linens and personal hygiene products — all donated by local retailers and organizations.
The space — opened two months ago — has eliminated the burden of Family Services workers rummaging through boxes to find items for children, Ms. Storan noted.
“The first couple of DFS workers that we had two weeks ago came here, and when they realized what they could get, they took a cartful of stuff and a bunch of shopping bags back to the office and said, ‘I can’t believe what’s over there. You’ve got to go,’ and it hasn’t stopped since,” she added.
“They’re the ones who handle foster kids. They basically ‘own’ kids while they’re in care, and they make sure that they have their needs met.”
Now, the Fostering Wishes Foundation has all its goods neatly organized and displayed, thanks to its 18 volunteers.
“We have so much more space. We have all the rooms up here, plus a basement,” Ms. Storan said. “When you can show somebody something like this, and everything looks like a real store, all organized by sizes, and they can pick their coats, it makes a real difference.
“They have linens, a separate section for the teenagers, a bookcase, bikes, clothes, shoes, hiking and some really nice selections for the teenagers. When they come in, they really load up, and we have some really top-notch things — Under Armour, Nike, Vans.”
Crucial delivery from local partner
With the holiday season in full swing, Santa Claus came to the Fostering Wishes Foundation on Saturday, in the form of Toys for Tots of Lower Sussex County. About 520 toys were donated, filling the shelves with even more wishes.
And, while Ms. Storan said that it’s a treat for a foster kid to receive a birthday or Christmas present, the group’s linen closet “is really important because, when kids go into a home, they share whatever else is in the home already — whatever bath towels (are) already there, whatever sheets are already there — that’s all you get.
“So, to be able to say, ‘I want my own unicorn sheets or whatever,’ that’s their bed,” she said. “It’s the same when they get their own towels and washcloths and other supplies.”
She added that, from Thanksgiving until Christmas, it’s just “go, go, go” for her agency, which plans to fill at least 450 requests this season.
“When kids go back to school after Christmas break, the first thing everybody asks them is, ‘What did you get?’” Ms. Storan said. “These kids can go back to school and say, ‘I got a JanSport backpack,’ or ‘I got a pair of Nikes,’ ‘I got a cool hoodie’ or a new bedding set.
“It makes it all worthwhile when we get a quick little note from the Division of Family Services that says, ‘We dropped this stuff off yesterday, and the kids were ecstatic.’
Staff writer Mike Finney can be reached at 302-741-8230 or mfinney@iniusa.org.
Follow @MikeFinneyDSN on X.
