LOS ANGELES, Calif.–The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to use an anonymous $10,000 gift to support a fund meant to benefit children in foster care.
The cashier’s check, drawn on Banner Bank in Bellingham, Wash., was sent by U.S. mail, postmarked in nearby Everett and received by the county’s auditor-controller on May 5.
“In this time of economic difficulties, governments need all the help they can get. Please put this anonymous check to good use. God bless you,” said a handwritten note enclosed with the check.
Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Michael Antonovich recommended putting the money in the Children’s Trust Fund. The privately supported fund was created in 1968 by a group of social workers to pay for the needs of foster children that are not covered by government funding.
The fund is managed by the Department of Children and Family Services and all spending benefits foster children and their families, according to the fund’s website.
An annual “All for the Love of Kids” fundraiser brought in more than $400,000 for the trust over the last 15 years and, last year, the fund benefited nearly 5,000 children.
About 20 percent is spent on clothing for the children and about 26 percent go toward beds. The fund also pays for educational field trips, sports equipment, summer camp, after-school programs, replacement prescription glasses and special medical, orthodontia and dental services not covered by insurance or MediCal.
In one example offered by DCFS, Ella, an 11-year-old girl, abused and neglected as a child, was selected to attend the National Young Leaders State Conference in Washington, D.C. Her attendance at the leadership conference for middle-schoolers was sponsored by the trust fund.
The board’s vote to give the $10,000 to the fund was unanimous.
By Elizabeth Marcellino | City News Service
