Redmond EMS hosts Brunch with Santa for foster families
Redmond EMS got St. Nick to come out for a special event ahead of the holidays and give back to families here in the community.
For the past 11 years, Redmond EMS has sponsored brunch with Santa for foster children and their parents. The day of fun included ornament and cookie decorating, games, food, fellowship, a gift to take home and a visit from Santa himself.
“It is our joy every year to give back to our foster families in the area and provide them with an opportunity to celebrate the holidays,” Marty Robinson,
Redmond EMS Service Director, said. “Stopping for a minute to have fun with Santa and see the happiness in the eyes of the children we invited is worth it all.”
Robinson added it was just one of the many ways that Redmond gives back to the community during the holiday season as an organization.
The event hosted at the Boys and Girls Club in Cedartown was also a way for Redmond EMS help promote the need for additional foster families to open their hearts and homes in Polk County. Numbers as of late November put Polk County at 137 children in state care and only 18 foster homes locally to care for them.
Which ultimately means that youth from Polk County end up away from their familiar surroundings and relatives in the foster system elsewhere.
Redmond EMS is one of those who continue to strive to ensure that outcome is avoided, and encourages people get involved in the foster system.
Those locally interested becoming a foster parent can reach out to Robin Forston, a Caregiver Recruitment and Retention Unit member for Region 3 in the state’s Department of Family and Children Services by phone at 404-895-6517 or email robin.forston@ dhs.ga.gov.