Bill and Virginia Darr are offering the matching grant to Crosslines Community Outreach to benefit Ambassadors for Children. It’s an annual grant that encourages others to help.
CCO Executive Director Jaimie Trussell said they help fill in the gap for foster kids and families.
"Missouri ranks 49th out of 50 in terms of support given to foster families," she said. "And a lot of our foster families take lots of sibling groups, and so even a family that wouldn't ordinarily struggle, with an additional number of children to care for, it can stretch resources even thinner. And Ambassadors for Children is there to make sure that those kids have everything they need to thrive."
Through the program, foster kids get a personalized shopping experience where they get to choose three new outfits, tags still attached, which Trussell said, for many, it’s a luxury.
"For so many of them, choice is not something they get in their lives," she said. "And for a lot of them, being able to pick out what kind of clothes they want to wear — am I a kid who wears camo? Am I a kid who wears sparkles? This is the first time in their lives they get to choose, and that is a beautiful thing to watch."
Trussell said they can also pick out pajamas and personal care items as well as new shoes, blankets and stuffed animals.
The program serves foster families in Christian, Greene and Taney Counties.
She estimated they serve around 65 foster kids each month.
