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WHO ARE TEEN
ANGELS? |
Teen Angel is a non-profit organization whose
goal is to provide Christmas to teens in crisis. Teen Angel's sole purpose is to
bring happiness during the holidays to teenagers who have been placed in
shelters or foster care and who, otherwise, would not have Christmas. The
program will work with and through the county Child Protective Services (CPS).
Teen Angel
2001 is currently operating as a division of the 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization of Memorial Spring Branch Rotary Charities, Inc. It is applying for
its own 501(c)(3) status.
Target for
Teen Angel 2001 is 20 teens (minimum). All monies raised will go toward
providing Christmas for targeted teens. There will be no hidden costs. A graphic
artist has donated his time and has developed a logo for Teen Angel. Hopefully,
a Teen Angel T- shirt can be given to each teen when the gifts are distributed.
Initial
projected fund raising will be $5,000, which would budget $200+ per teenager.
Hopefully, $5,000 would provide greater buying power by contacting large
department store chains seeking significant discounts for gift items, utilizing
501-c3 status.
Board of Directors:
Gail
Keller
Stanley Rauhut
Bill Haglund
Initial Teen Angel committees are:
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Fund Raising: |
Matching
funds program |
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Buying Power: |
Contacting
department stores to negotiate holiday buying. |
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Publicity/Community |
Public
Service Announcements |
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Distribution: |
Work with CPS, teachers/schools, and other groups helping teens to identify teens in real crisis for gifts. Determine appropriate gifts. Must identify at least one "fun" gift. Other gifts can be practical. Cooperate with Buying Power Committee Buy wrapping paper and see gifts are wrapped Distribute gifts through CPS Christmas week. |
During the
holidays, people and organizations are asked to dig deeply to help those who are
less fortunate. Through the generosity of many, children do know that there
really is a Santa and our older citizens know they are not forgotten. However, a
segment of our population is forgotten - our teenagers who, for whatever reason,
have been taken out of their homes and put in foster care; especially within a
few weeks before the holidays.
With this
in mind, an effort needs to be made to not forget our teens who are too old to
believe in Santa and during the holidays might lose hope. In 1997, a group of
teens in Fort Bend County were in crisis and had been removed from their
families and put in foster care during the holidays. By working with the Fort
Bend County Child Protective Services, the founder of Teen Angel, Gail Keller,
and three friends were able to pinpoint 20 teens and provided Christmas for
them. If this effort saved just one, then the effort was not wasted.
After
talking with representatives from Child Protective Services and organizations
who recruit families to foster children, the general consensus is that 90% of
money donated during the holidays goes to children IO and younger. The remaining
90% has to be split up among other segments of the population leaving
approximately 2.5% for teens at Christmas. Foster families are reimbursed for
normal expenses incurred for children in foster care; however, there is very
little money available for extras. Teen Angel would like to see each recipient
receive updated clothing to start school in after the holidays and one
"fun" gift, i.e. CD player and CD's, boom box, etc.
Our first fundraiser will be an all-gaited "fun" horse show at Foxfire Farms on Saturday, December 1, 2001. Foxfire has generously donated its facilities. Sponsorship for ribbons and the judge(s) will be sought so that all the proceeds from the show will benefit Teen Angel.