Written By Lisa Breslin
Voices for Children, a nonprofit organization that is a lifeline for foster care children in Carroll County, has tried a new approach to fund and awareness-raising: a community-wide auction based on the “adoption” of works of art.
For the venture, artists transformed 31 wooden “children” (dubbed “Carroll’s Kids”) into works of art that toured local businesses and ultimately reunited at the Carroll Arts Center in Westminster on Oct. 22, where they were auctioned to caring “parents” who took them home.
The fund raiser, which garnered $1,400, is the brainchild of Laura Rhodes, program development manager for Granite House and board member for Voices for Children, which is dedicated to documenting and meeting the needs of children in foster care in Carroll County.
Eager to raise money for an organization that she believed in, Rhodes also wanted to raise money in a fresh way.
“Fund raisers all tend to be the same. To hook me, a fund raiser has to be different,” Rhodes said. “I designed this event on the fly by looking at plans for other fund raisers and Carrollizing them.”
If future fund-raising groups are inspired by the Carroll’s Kids campaign to look beyond the silent auction-dinner formula, she said, all the better.
The result: Works of art that not only captured the philosophy of Voices for Children, but also the attention of the local community for more than eight weeks.
“When I saw the undecorated slabs of wood, I thought ÔEeew, ugly,’ Rhodes said. “But the community rallied. Using everything you can imagine – paint, Sculpey clay, beads, paper mache – artists brought the wood to life.”
“Each one is better than the next,” said Laurie Burdock, executive director of Voices for Children. “They capture the issues that the [foster] kids experience. Carroll’s Kids are so intertwined with our mission. This venture has been a great surprise; it brought our agency alive.”
There are 52 in children in foster care in Carroll County, according to Burdock. Voices for Children receives approximately 240 calls a month.
“Every child deserves a safe, permanent home,” said Burdock. “Our volunteers are advocates for these children, and as advocates, they connect foster care children with the resources they need and make sure that children stay connected. Most of the children’s needs are related to academics or mental health.”
As a result of the agency’s advocacy, foster care children tend to spend less time in the system, Burdock said.
Although Voices for Children has grown from 11 to 26 volunteers in the last year, funding has not kept up with that pace, according to Rhodes.
She concedes that she “went a little crazy” planning the Carroll’s Kids fund raiser, which culminated in the October 22 Awards and Adoptions Ceremony at the Carroll Arts Council. – L.M.B.
