Foster Parent Appreciation Dinner

Each year, the state Children's Administration department combines efforts with other area agencies to put on a Foster Parent Appreciation Dinner for all foster parents in our region. It's really a wonderful event - a nice sit down dinner, lots of fun italian sodas, tons and tons of great door prizes and awards for foster parents. Our Foster Parent Association also gives out two awards each year at this dinner - one to celebrate a community member that has helped out the fostering community, and one to a social worker who we feel as gone above and beyond the call of their job. As the new President of the Foster Parent Association, I was given the honor of handing out the Social Worker of the Year award. We decided to give it to our Respite Coordinator, who had done an awesome job making sure that foster parents are getting what they need for respite care. She is so committed to the children in care and their foster parents. She has worked for the department for going on 20 years, and she was absolutely flabbergasted to receive the award. But the whole room gave her a standing ovation, and she very much deserved the honor. Although my hubby and I didn't win any door prizes, it was still a wonderful evening!