Social media helps connect woman with Bucs, brings Christmas to dozens of foster children
Social media brings Christmas wishes to foster kids
With the help of social media, one woman in Tampa Bay is helping bring Christmas to dozens of foster children. FOX 13's Kylie Jones reports.
BRANDON, Fla. - With the help of social media, one woman in Tampa Bay is helping bring Christmas to dozens of foster children.
What we know:
Amy Beamer was at her husband's hockey game in Brandon one night in December and noticed an Angel Tree at the rink.
"We kind of realized, 'Oh, this is for a group home. These are for foster kids,'" Beamer said. "All the tags only had, like, one wish on them."
Beamer and her friends started to grab some tags.
Courtesy: Amy Beamer
"Initially, I picked a girl that wanted, she just asked for hair bows, and then I had another girl that asked for art supplies and I thought, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, like that's my girl because I paint,'" Beamer said.
She and her husband kept grabbing tags and noticed one for a 14-year-old boy, who wanted an Antoine Winfield Tampa Bay Buccaneers T-shirt.
Social Media Power:
"So, I went home and I tweeted at the Bucs," Beamer said. "I said, 'Hey, you know, I'll go buy him a T-shirt. If you guys want to send him anything else, that would be great'."
Overnight, the post blew up. Beamer woke up to a message from the Bucs' team wanting to send over team gear and goodies.
Courtesy: Amy Beamer
She then started getting replies and messages from people across the country, wanting to pitch in for other kids.
"Random people in Tampa started reaching out, and they were like, 'Oh, can I send you money for the other kids?' Like, 'Go buy the sneakers for these people'," she said.
Beamer says they collected more than $700 worth of donations for foster children at A Kid's Place in Hillsborough County.
Big picture view:
A Kid's Place provides foster care for up to 60 children at a time, ranging in age from newborns to 18-year-olds.
"For children in foster care, the holidays are really hard because they really want to be with their families," Samantha Mellen, with A Kid's Place said. "And everything that is normal for us is not always normal for children in foster care."
Mellen says they rely on the community to help serve their children every day, especially during the holiday season.
"We've had kids who have never celebrated their birthday or had their name on a birthday cake," she said. "They might have never had a Christmas tree."
Deeper Meaning:
Beamer feels like this experience has been a full circle moment, having once been in foster care herself.
"Growing up in foster care, being one of those kids who, you know, you didn't necessarily get a Christmas or presents or things like that," she said.
Beamer was once a recipient of similar holiday donations or toy drives.
Courtesy: Amy Beamer
"Now as an adult, being able to turn around and kind of go back to where it all started, going back to the group home and being able to give back to those kids, it's kind of like, I don't know," she said. "It's like healing your inner child."
Beamer was grateful for the support she received to help accomplish this.
"It's just really cool to think about, like, not only are we doing something this year, but this could happen like every single year now, because people are good, and it's Christmastime," she said.
How To Help:
You can find more information about how to help or volunteer with A Kid's Place year round here.
The Source: FOX 13's Kylie Jones gathered this information from the woman who participated in the Angel Tree program.