A Holiday Message from Lynda

Dear Friend:

We are busy getting ready for the Holiday Season ahead. This year, because acquiring basic needs is overwhelming for many families, we are asking you to help a little differently.

We want to give needy families items such as heaters, blankets, toiletries, household products, towels and food plus a gift card that they could use after the Holidays. There are thousands that need this help and we want to pool all our resources to help as many as we can. We want to use every penny to buy necessities in bulk and on sale, so our dollars will go even further and hundreds more will get the help they need.

We will still offer some needy families to “adopt”, as that is already in great demand. We will also be pleased to accept new toys for the kids and will be excited to get those toys to the kids in need, however, our first priority this year is helping individual families get their basic needs met. Checks, gift cards, or other items will be used or given out wisely and prudently. Please refer to the left of this page for the various ways you can help.

THANK YOU so much for your continued support to help us help so many. We know these are trying times for everyone so every penny is appreciated. Our work has always been done directly with those in need. There are no middlemen, no thrift stores, no paid staff and no overhead. Our network of hard-working Board members and volunteers creates our success: our work is far-reaching, hands-on and over the last 16 years has made a world of difference to the foster and underprivileged kids in Ventura County. Thank you for joining with us to make this difference to these needy families. The best of Holidays to you and yours.

With appreciation,

Lynda Miller, President & Founder, SUPPORT FOR THE KIDS

Another successful fall festival

Our Fall Festival was yet again a great success with approx. 450 kids enjoying a beautiful sunny day on the ranch with hayrides, face painting, crafts and of course a tasty Bar–B-Que hosted by our great friends the Kiwanis Club of Thousand Oaks. Many thanks to the wonderful volunteers and donors who made this happen.

School Supply Drive is Now On

Now through the end of August we are collecting school supplies to distribute to underprivileged children in the Oxnard area. We all know that, even in the most fortunate districts, schools are struggling to maintain basic programs. For our less fortunate it can mean not even having pens and notebooks to do basic school assignments. Please help us help children start off the school year with high self esteem and prepared to learn. Any school supplies are welcome but back packs are a priority need this year.

You can contact us directly to donate or drop off to our local friends below:-

• Starbucks Coffee – look for collection baskets in local stores (excluding supermarket locations) in Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, Westlake, Oak Park, Agoura and Calabasas

If you’d like to shop “n” drop at the same time our fantastic friends at National Charity League will be collecting donations outside of the Staples on Lindero Cyn (across from Costco) on August 5th, 6th, 12th and 13th. The fabulous girls from Newbury Park Girl Scout Troop #60033 will be in front of Office Max in Thousand Oaks on August 8th, and 15th.

We Asked for a Helping Hand...

... and you gave it to us. A big “thank you” to those generous donors who responded to our annual fundraising request. Even in these difficult times you opened your hearts and wallets and helped us come close to our goal. The funs are targeted (you decided) between our tutoring program and providing food and basic staples to needy families. By partnering with FOOD share, a food bank in Ventura County, we are able to stretch your valuable dollars to feed a family of four for a week for about $30.

Our Youth Council Does It Again!

Our fabulous youth council is made up of students from local high schools. Now in its fourth year the council plans and participates in fundraising and volunteer activities. This special dream team recently completed their second denim drive, collecting over 780 pairs of jeans and 200+ sweatshirts, which were distributed to needy kids.

Verizon, December 19, 2008:  Holly Cole presents Lynda Miller with a check for $40,000

Support for the Kids receives a generous grant from Verizon

On December 19, 2008, Holly Cole, Director of Government
& External Affairs, Verizon, presented Lynda Miller, President & Founder of Support for the Kids with a $40,000 check for the “Empowerment thru Education” program. This very important program is the cornerstone of SFTK. We provide tutoring for foster kids twice a week, for an hour at Tutorific in Camarillo and Ventura.

We have been receiving great results and our current assessment tests show each child progressing one and one half grade levels in just 30 hours of tutoring!

We are proud of our accomplishments, efforts and hard work to make sure the foster kids in Ventura County get the help they need to succeed.

Thank you, Verizon, for your generous support. Thank you to Holly Cole for all your time and effort and for believing in our great work.

Our kids are 25% of our population, but 100% of our future.

Support For The Kids Reaches 8,892 Kids
for Christmas

A Big Thank You to Support for the Kids Board Members
Gary and Peggy Finefrock

The beginning of November finds Support for the Kids already preparing for our Christmas programs. Three weeks before Thanksgiving donations of toys, clothing and household items start pouring in. For most of our history (now over 14 years), all the items were packed into Lynda and Gary Miller’s garage to await distribution. The last five years we have had a special Christmas gift of our own: Peggy and Gary Finefrock have been kind enough to donate the rental of a nine-room-plus-garage storage unit in a Westlake business center during November, December.

Gary Finefrock Peggy Finefrock Thanks to the Finefrocks, we had room to soar to new levels of giving….we had plenty of parking for donors to bring us hundreds of bags of donated items and we had lots of room for our 310 volunteers to sort, bag and tag all the food, clothing, household items, and toys donated to help the underprivileged kids and families we serve. Bagged toys & toys waiting to be counted and bagged for our handouts Above and Below: Holiday handouts could not happen without the hard work & dedication of our volunteers

Our Toy Collection Boxes, Hosted by
Local Businesses

We have partnered with a great many local businesses who allow us to place prominently in their shops our Support for the Kids Christmas Toy Collection boxes. This collection over the months of November and December provides us with a large portion of the toys we hand out. We would like to thank the following businesses for participating with us this Christmas:

11 local Starbucks
6 local Baja Fresh
Agoura Hills Dance Studio
Tika Grill
Dr. Dan Dandono, Orthodontist
805 Magazine Offices
Weiser Litho
Retters Academy of Dance
Westlake Physical Therapy
Beau Image
YMCA – Newbury Park
Mamarita’s
Professional Nail – Newbury Park
Corrigan’s Steak House
Burns Construction Office
Siany
Chapter 8
P6
Westlake Village Inn
Del Mano Salon
Hollywood Storage
First California Bank
Camarillo Outlet Center
Communication Matters - Newbury Park
Notre Dame Learning Center - Thousand Oaks

Hollywood Storage of Newbury Park helped us collect toys by hosting a Picture Day with Santa every Saturday in December. Visitors could, in return for a donated brand new toy, get a picture with their child or their pet sitting on Santa’s lap. We received hundreds of toys from the generous customers of Hollywood Storage Center.

Hollywood Storage Center of Newbury Park		The "Giving Tree" www,premiumoutlets.com

For the last 7 years, Camarillo Outlet Center has hosted their “Giving Tree” for Support for the Kids. The tree is placed in the hallway by the general office of the Center. Our Board members make special gift tags with wishes and needs for the kids we help, put the the kid’s name on each tag and place it on the tree. Shoppers come by, pick up a tag, shop for the kids and take the toys/clothing with the tag to the general office. Board members stop in to pick up the donated toys and clothing. Hundreds of toys were donated through the support of the Camarillo Outlet Center.

Janeen Holmes, President of My Stuff Bags here in Westlake Village has also been a generous supporter, helping us reach more foster and underprivileged kids in Ventura County. Over the past 4 years, My Stuff Bags has donated thousands of puppets and stuffed animals. We appreciate their support and great work. Please visit their web site at: mystuffbags.com

SFTK Hosts Chuck E Cheese Parties

Over two days, December 9th and 10th, SFTK hosted 920 kids at our local Chuck E Cheese. The parties, which include tokens, pizza and drinks were underwritten by:

MR. JOHN NOTTER of the Westlake Village Inn and MR. JOHN SCARDINO of J. S. Development.

Mrs. Claus, Colleen McCarthy, handed out cookies and Girl Scout leaders Marcia Gordon and Dorlee Rinkov brought Troop #1034 to entertain the kids with face painting. Each kid got a visit with Santa and received a brand new toy and a photo with Santa as well as a stuffed animal and a bag of candy.

These parties take three weeks of intense preparation and these two afternoons of fast, furious and hectic activity and fun could not happen without our 52 fantastic volunteers, which include members of the National Charity League, local Girl Scout Troops along with Board members and great friends. Everyone works hard during those three hours to make sure each child has a safe, fun and memorable time.

Mrs. Claus handing out cookies at Chuck E. Cheese	Above: Chuck E. Cheese Party Below: Happy child carrying gift bag after meeting Santa at Chuck E. Cheese

SFTK Delivers Toys to Kids

On December 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th, SFTK traveled to elementary schools in Piru, Santa Paula, Fillmore and Pt. Hueneme. Principals, school administrators, outreach specialists and social workers identified kids at certain schools that were in need. Board members Lane and Mary Weitzman donated a 40 foot truck to use for these handouts.



Mary, Lane and Ashley Weitzman are unloading the truck they donated for delivery of the toys

THANK YOU Lane & Mary so much for your unbelievable generosity. The night before each visit, volunteers convened at our storage unit and loaded the truck with the presents each child would receive: stuffed animals, puppets, 80-piece art kits, candy, cookies and new toys. Our red-shirted, well-organized and dedicated volunteers handed out the gifts to 500 kids at each stop in under thirty minutes! School principals told us that without our help, most of the 4,831 kids we saw at these handouts would not have received anything at all for Christmas.

Volunteers have lined up toys grouped for different ages
Above: Art kits and toys being handed out at Center Below: Kids get to select a toy	Above: A kid gets his present! Below: What a toy can mean to a child

SFTK Helping Families

After the toy handout at the school in Piru, we also handed out household necessities, toiletries and supermarket gift cards to 21 very needy families, identified by the principal of Piru Elementary school. The gift certificates to these 21 families and another 79 families were donated by Melinda and Leo Bunnin and Bunnin Automotive.



Lynda Miller hands out gift certificates to families in need

On December 23rd, forty volunteers gathered at our storage unit at 7AM, loaded up their SUV’s and cars with baskets of household items, toys, candy, cookies, bagels and gift cards and we caravanned out to Fillmore. We had pre-selected a trailer park where families were especially in need. We knocked on every door and our volunteers handed out all the items to the 35 grateful families living there.

Caravanning to the Family Resource Center with presents for the handout, cradled by one of our youngest volunteers	Families lining up for the Christmas present handout at the Fillmore trailer park

We then caravanned up the freeway about 4 miles to the Neil Schmidt Family Resource Center and handed out baskets of household items, toys, food, stuffed animals and clothing to an additional 45 very needy families.

Volunteers getting instructions before the handout	Families lined up to accept toys

Additional Toy Handouts

Since we received many more toys after our planned delivery dates, we were able to coordinate deliveries of toys to an additional 809 kids on December 27th at four family resource centers in Oxnard and Fillmore.

On January 13th, our hard-working volunteers again caravanned out to Oxnard to hand out toys, stuffed animals, cookies, candy and new clothing to 109 families assembled at a Resource Center’s Parent meeting. On January 16th, we handed out toys to 55 kids and 10 families in Fillmore.

Adopt a Family

This year we “adopted” 284 families – 51 families more than last year! Our “Adopt A Family” outreach program works like this: Support for the Kids sends applications to Resource Center social workers. After identifying a family in need, the social worker/outreach specialist makes a home visit to meet again with the family and confirm the needs. An application is then submitted to Support for the Kids and we match the family with a donor (individual or group) who has requested to join the program. The donors either shops, wraps and deliver the presents to the Center themselves or they give us a check and one of our volunteers will do the shopping and deliveries. A special thank you goes out this year to Betsy Anderson, of Newbury Park who coordinated 63 Girl Scout troops to adopt our families in need.

Despite the downturn in the economy, Support for the Kids reached a grand total of 8,892 kids this Christmas, thru all of our activities listed above for the kids and their families. We had a lot of happy kids, and very appreciative parents.

Thanks to our hundreds of donors, our tireless volunteers and our hard working Board Members for a very successful Christmas, 2008. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Happy New Year!

The "Get Real" group with Lynda Miller

Back to School with Support for the Kids

Every year thousands of children in the Ventura county area start school without the proper essentials for the classroom. Each September Support for the Kids holds its annual school supply drive for foster and underprivileged children.

Click here to read more...

Get Real adopts support for the kids

BIG HEARTED - Get Real, a Conejo Valley real estate networking group, has donated $2,000 to Support for the Kids and has named us their primary charity partner. Thank you to this wonderful group of people.

Taking part in the check presentation were Get Real members, front row from left: Sue Sylvester, LeeAndra Chergey, Tracy Henneberry, Amy Commans, Lynda Miller (Support for the Kids founder), Joanne Nelson and Laura Berg. Middle row: Denis Arledge, Francine Weisbecker, Joann Tattersall, Dionne Curtiss, Sally Solomon, Barbara Riddle, Cindee Zabner, Stacy Richardson, Andrea McCabe, Jenny Brown, Lori Dotzler and Blake Calhoun. Back row: Zane Widdes, Roy Belson, Barbara Radke, Tim Farrel, Terry Moerler, Jerry Adams, Andrea Harlan, Mary Fealkoff, Jeff Johnson, Aileen Hagy, Pat Helton, Tony Calhoun and Lacey Calhoun

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT AT OUR ANNUAL FUNDRAISING EVENT, "A TASTE OF OUR TOWN"

Click on the poster to the left for an archive of this wonderful event.