Hi All,
I wanted to let you know about a great program that supports foster kids that are attending colleges across the country. It is called the Red Scarf Project, and since we launched only two weeks ago, it was too late to do anything as far as participating this year. But, we can get a good jump on next year! The Orphan Foundation of America collects handmade knitted and crocheted scarves from people all over America, to include in Valentine's Day care packages that they send to foster kids that are going to be attending college.

If you are interested in making scarves, they need to be about 5 feet long, appropriate for either a girl or boy, and red (although they do accept blue, green, yellow or black too). Also, please attach a tag that has your name, city and the name of any group you are a part of. For instance, maybe we as the adoptionblogs group could participate this year. The purpose of the program is to let these kids know that there are a lot of people that care about them.

They send out 2,500 care packages to foster youth each year and, depending on donated items, includes things like cookies, cd cases, personal hygiene products, and hand-written notes encouraging them in their endeavors. The OFA supports older foster youth who were never adopted, and gives out over $11.5 million in scholarships and state vouchers so these kids can attend college. A founding partner of the National Care Package Day is the Freddie Mac Foundation. A major sponsor is Gifts in Kind International.

You can send in the scarves, or drop them off at any Einstein Bros. bagel shop across the country. The Einstein Bros. web site is really cool, and worth a visit just to see it. For more information visit the OFA site, and check out this awesome program!