Support teens in foster care

Letter to the Editor

As a person who spent two years in foster care, much of it at the Children's Home, I can still feel the conflict between excitement and sadness that the holidays brought out in me. Excitement, because I knew that I might be getting a special gift; sadness, because what I really wanted was to be just like every other kid — enjoying a holiday dinner with my family, shopping at the mall with my friends, doing all the things that "normal" kids do.

Here at Hillsborough Kids, we try our best to give every child in foster care the sense of normalcy they crave. Over the years, we've made it easier for kids to do sleepovers, participate in school dances and sports activities and have meaningful summer camp experiences. During the holidays, our community does a fabulous job of providing for the younger children in the system of care, but our teens are often left out. Let's face it, shopping for the latest Elmo toy is a lot more warm and fuzzy than buying a gift card from Plato's Closet or Best Buy. But our teens need your support, too. This holiday season, please consider supporting the 500-plus teens in foster care here in our community and help send the message that they are loved and appreciated. Gift cards seem like such simple things, but to teens in foster care they represent so much more: freedom, independence, choice.

I am a foster-care success story. After aging out of care, I took advantage of every opportunity I was given and am now proud to say that I have completed my MBA and am a licensed CPA. But my proudest accomplishment is volunteering my time and expertise to improve the foster system in which I was raised. So please join me in sending a message of love and hope to our community's teens in foster care by donating to the Hillsborough Kids holiday gift card campaign. For more information visit http://www.hills boroughkids.org/ and click on the link under "Help bring joy to a child in care." Our teens are depending on you.

Constance Trojanowski

Tampa