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December Newsletter | Our Standards: Led by Youth, Guided by Experience
Foster Greatness December Newsletter | A Season of Belonging
Isabel Stasa
December 01, 2025
Happy Holidays!
Hi FG Member!
Cheers to our year-long, life-long season of belonging!
As we cozy up and reflect on an incredible year, we’re raising a glass to each and every one of you—the heart and soul of Foster Greatness! 🥂
This month is all about celebrating the community we’ve built together, and we’re closing out 2025 with major joy, including festive events and connection points right inside the Foster Greatness app.
To kick off this season of giving, we invite you to join our Giving Tuesday campaign—a powerful chance to fuel our mission and ensure we kick off 2026 with unstoppable momentum.
Let’s wrap this year in warmth and look ahead to a new chapter of connection and empowerment, together! 💫
Highlights of the Month ✨
What an incredible month! This November, the Foster Greatness community showed up in the most powerful ways—filling homes with holiday meals, hearts with connection, and our mission with unstoppable momentum.
From doubling the impact of our Thanksgiving tradition to taking our message to a national stage, we’ve been busy building belonging and celebrating every single win with you.
Let’s take a joyful look back at the highlights that made November so unforgettable! 🎉
💬 "What I Wish I Knew About Relationships & Boundaries" Panel We closed our powerful lived-experience panel series with an honest and insightful conversation about navigating friendships and setting healthy boundaries. The wisdom shared by our alumni panelists provided crucial tools for everyone in attendance. |
 | ⚖️ NACC Conference Presentation Our very own Director of Community Affairs & Social Impact, Isabel Stasa, took the national stage, presenting our "National Network for Fostering Sibling Connections" project at the 2025 Virtual NACC Conference! She, alongside founder Lily Colby and leader Ivory Bennett, educated legal professionals on the vital importance of preserving sibling bonds, amplifying our mission to key decision-makers in child welfare. |
 | 🎊 Friendsgiving Game Night 🎲 Our first-ever Friendsgiving Game Night was a blast, uniting former foster youth, alumni, and allies for an evening of laughter, connection, and pure joy! The virtual room was buzzing with festive energy as we played games and celebrated the chosen family that makes our community so special. |
 | 🦃 Thanksgiving Community Cooking Gathering We doubled our impact in our second annual event, sending nearly 100 festive meal kits to former foster youth and their families across the US! Each kit was a box of love, packed with fresh ingredients, recipes, and our exclusive community cookbook to create a true Season of Belonging. |
 | ☕ Fundraiser with Long Island Cafe Our first restaurant fundraiser with Long Island Cafe was a delicious success, with 25% of sales on November 18th directly fueling our mission! This exciting partnership proved that community support can come in many forms—especially when it involves great food for a great cause. |
Resource Highlights 🔎
💡 File Your Taxes for FREE! 💡
Tax season doesn't have to be stressful or expensive! Foster Greatness is thrilled to offer FREE tax filing support for all former foster youth and individuals with lived experience. We'll connect you with easy-to-use tools and dedicated help to confidently file your return and maximize your refund—because your financial well-being matters! Keep an eye on the Foster Greatness app and your email for the official launch date and details. Let's tackle tax season together and keep your hard-earned money where it belongs: with you! 💰✨
Get Involved 💙
🌟 Get Involved: Build Joy This Giving Tuesday! 🌟
This Giving Tuesday help us fund our magical Gingerbread House Party Contest, designed specifically to bring former foster youth and their families together for a celebration of creativity and community. 🎄
Each $60 donation sponsors a complete gingerbread kit, which includes:
All the ingredients to build and decorate a gingerbread house and person 🏠
A $20 gift card for families to buy their own special candies, making their creation uniquely theirs 🍬
Access to an exclusive virtual party to connect and celebrate together🎄
Donate any amount today to help us build a more joyful season!
🎄 Spark Joy with Our Virtual Giving Tree! 🎄
This holiday season, you can directly deliver magic to a former foster youth through our Virtual Giving Tree! 🎁 It’s a fun and easy way to make the holidays bright: simply select a digital ornament to "adopt" a former foster youth and fulfill a wish from their personal Christmas list. With every gift under $30, you’re not just giving an item—you’re giving the powerful message that they are seen, celebrated, and deeply cared for. Visit our website to pick your ornament and become someone’s holiday “Secret Santa”!
Partnerships 🤝
🌟 Our New Partnership: Foster Greatness + Cetera! 🌟
We are thrilled to announce a powerful new partnership with Cetera to expand our reach and deepen our impact in Florida! 🤝 Together, we're bringing the Foster Greatness platform—with its vital resource finder, supportive community, and on-demand specialist support—directly to systems impacted individuals in the Tampa Bay region. This collaboration is a huge step forward in our shared mission to ensure every person from foster care has the tools, connections, and community they need to not just survive, but truly thrive. Welcome to the family, Cetera! 💙
Upcoming Events 📅
Community Reflections 💭
 | Through the workshops, mentorship, and just the encouragement I received, I started to believe in myself again. Foster Greatness didn’t just help me grow, it reminded me that my past doesn’t define my future. It gave me tools, guidance, and a sense of belonging I never thought I’d have. To anyone out there who’s ever felt alone or like they had to fight every battle by themselves know that there are people who care, and Foster Greatness is living proof of that. I’m grateful for the love and support this organization continues to pour into people like me. It made a real difference in my life. Lauryn Treadwell |
Interested in being featured in a Thriver Story and participating in an engaging panel discussion? 🎙️
We are actively seeking new and inspiring guests with lived experience in the foster system to uplift their voices and stories on the Thriver Stories podcast! If you have a story to share, we would love to hear from you. Simply fill out the form provided above, and we will get back to you with the next steps in the process. ✏️
Our Thriver Stories podcast is dedicated to highlighting the voices of individuals who have lived experience in the foster system. We aim to provide a platform for these individuals to share their unique experiences and personal journeys, all revolving around a specific topic of their choice. 💙
Participants are compensated for the time and contribution they make on our podcast show and panel conversations.
Foster Greatness’s mission is to co-create a dynamic platform with people directly impacted by the foster system to set the standard of empowerment and support. We are providing accessible, authentic connections and support by creating a lived-experience led platform. Our vision for every person who is and has been directly impacted by the foster system to feel empowered and supported.