93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
A nonprofit that serves as a one-stop shop for mid-Missouri foster, adoptive and kinship families hopes for a good turnout for its Thursday evening fundraiser in Boonville. The Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association serves 24 mid-Missouri counties, and this will be its first-ever fundraiser outside of Jefferson City.
CMFCAA communications manager Gerry Tritz says the fundraiser is titled “Stomp Out Abuse”, since nearly all foster children have faced abuse or neglect.
“You know our goal is to lead them toward safety, toward permanency. Ultimately we want to get them to a forever home. When they’re in foster care, they may have a home, a house to live in, but it’s not a permanent home,” Tritz says.
Mr. Tritz says there were 499 children in foster care in Boone County in 2021, the latest numbers that are available. There were also 1,300 cases of abuse or neglect in Boone County in 2021, according to Tritz. While those are not all foster children, he sees a lot of parallels with the work they do.
Thursday’s event is from 5:30 to 8 pm at Cooper’s Ridge. The cost is 25 dollars and includes a country-style buffet.
“We’re going to have line dancing, wine and whiskey pulls, a silent auction. There’s going to be a pair a miniature ponies there. And there’s going to be a country-style buffet. All of this for $25, which you can’t find that in a fundraiser these days,” says Tritz.
Tritz says CMFCAA’s goal is to lead the foster children toward safety and permanency and ultimately a forever home.
