Utah Foster Care hosted its 11th Annual Chalk Art Festival on Friday, June 14 and Saturday, June 15 at The Gateway. Displays of color shined bright on the streets of the mall, and performances of choirs and musicians were held on a stage near Barnes and Noble; all this in support of foster children and families.
“We need foster families especially in the highly metropolitan areas like Salt Lake area, Ogden/Provo area,” says area representative for southwest region Debbie Hofhines. “[The festival] is mostly to raise awareness and also to recognize foster dads because in June is Foster-Fathers’ Day.”
Fathers from five regions were nominated by friends, family and case-workers; then one from each region was given a Foster-Father of the Year award at the festival.
The winning fathers were:
Eastern: Rhett Cook
Northern: David Burke
Salt Lake Valley: Adam Ostmark
Southwest: Michael Gooch
Western: Emery Calkins
There are over 2,600 children in need of foster homes. Many have been abused or neglected and suffer severe emotional problems. Utah Foster Care arranges for these children to be placed in safe homes and provides several programs to help them.
The Wishing Well Fund is one program that gives foster children the opportunity to experience things they can’t afford to do. There is also a foster family camp for families to go and spend time together. All donations from the festival go to support these types of programs.
“When you are donating here, you are donating to help kids get their wishes granted or send a family to camp,” says community manager for Utah Foster Care Deborah Lindner.
Several booths at the festival gave out information on donating to the foundation and people could sign up to be foster parents.
People could sponsor a chalk art square for $350 or $500, and there were also several known sponsors that contributed to the event.
Over 20,000 people attended the festival to admire the chalk art and learn a bit more about foster care. The goal of Utah Foster Care was to raise awareness for people in the community and give them the opportunity to help foster children.
The festival provided entertainment and fun, but it also gave people the chance to be educated about what foster care is all about.
