Help brighten a foster child's holiday by participating in DCS's Giving Tree Program

PHOENIX, AZ (September 19, 2023)

It’s the holiday season.

Imagine you are a foster child, waking up in a strange bed, in a house filled with people you don’t know.

You have no idea what’s going to happen next, or when you will see your parents again.

You wonder, what will my holiday celebration look like this year? Will the traditions be different? How will people know what I asked for?”

Or imagine that you are a teenager.

You have aged out of foster care. You are working and going to college, but money is tight, and you wonder how you are going to afford some of the necessities for your new apartment.

These scenarios represent the circumstances for thousands of children in foster care right here in our state.

How You Can Make the Holidays Brighter

Foster kids need to know that the community cares.

Every year, the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) partners with Arizona businesses, churches, and organizations through its Giving Tree Program.

Giving Tree provides an opportunity to give back by providing gifts for children in foster care.

Participating organizations receive a set of Giving Tree hearts that can be hung on a holiday tree in a business office or lobby.

Each heart includes a child’s name, age, gender, size, and wish list.

Participants can pick a heart from the tree and shop for that child.

DCS will pick up the gifts and deliver them to the children for the holidays.

Last year in Arizona, over 100 community partners donated roughly $450,000 in gifts for nearly 4,800 children in foster care through the Giving Tree Program.

To find out more about Giving Tree, or explore other ways to get involved, please email us at [email protected].

Watch the video below to see how the Giving Tree can impact the lives of children and youth in foster care: