PORT ANGELES — There was plenty of clowning around at a picnic for foster children at Lincoln Park on Sunday.
More than 60 foster and adopted children and their foster families were treated to a picnic and school supplies giveaway, along with face painting, balloon animals and a visit from a troupe of clowns.
Volunteers prepared 252 back-to-school backpacks for foster children, adoptees and the families’ biological children, said Carol Pope, treasurer of the North Olympic Foster Parent Association.
Each of the bags was packed with a boy or girl in mind and by grade levels, Pope said.
“We just went down the school supply lists,” she said.
The only thing the group was unable to provide were the scientific calculators needed for some high school classes.
A number of donors made it possible for the giveaway to happen.
First Federal donated $2,000 to help provide supplies, with additional donations from Walgreens of Sequim, Sound Community Bank, Olympic Eye Care of Port Angeles, Kiwanis of Sequim, Sequim Sunrise Rotary, All Safe Mini Storage of Sequim and Anytime Fitness of Sequim and Port Angeles.
Toys for Tots also provided toys for many of the younger children.
“It means a lot to me and a lot of other kids to get this stuff,” said James Turner, 14, of Port Angeles.
As an eighth-grade student at Stevens Middle School, Turner was looking forward to a new year in school and with his new family.
He had been in foster care for three years, and on Sunday was also celebrating his adoption.
A year ago, Turner told his foster family he would like to stay with them and be adopted.
“Now, I have a dad like I never had,” he said.
Organizers also offered help with clothing, including winter coats and new packs of underclothes, making it a little easier for foster parents.
The giveaway helps them with supplies they need but may not have had the time or energy to shop for, Turner said.
“Foster parents do a lot,” Turner said.
Foster parenting has changed a lot in the last 50 years —for the better —said Cindy Morrill, 54, of Port Angeles.
Morrill, who once was a foster child herself, has grown children and is now raising a pair of 18-month old foster sons, Tanner and Brayden. She is also a board member of the North Olympic Foster Parent Association,
“When I was a foster kid, there were no restrictions,” Morrill said. “A lot of people were in it for the money.”
Now foster parents must prove they can support themselves with other income before they can be a foster parent, she said.
The North Olympic Foster Parent Association holds four events each year, including the summer picnic and school supply event. Those events provide a chance for foster parents to get together, to network and to give and get advice.
“There are a lot of new faces this year. I don’t recognize a lot of people,” she said.
There are about 120 foster children in Clallam County.
Each year, an average of 15 of them are adopted by their foster parents, said Martha Hastings, a foster home licenser for the Department of Social and Health Services.
Many are returned to their biological parents — the first choice whenever possible, Hastings said.
Others go to live with other relatives or “age out” of foster care, she said.
Foster parents go through a rigorous background check, for criminal and for character references, she said.
They must have an independent income, have room for a child in their home and the home must be safe.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.