Adoption and foster care programs have been the center of Legacy’s charitable giving since we partnered with Volunteers of America in 2014. And for John Foster, the Director of our Windows Division and member of our Executive Leadership Team, the notion of ‘foster care’ really hits close to home.
John and his wife, who have four children of their own, decided to become foster parents to give children in less-fortunate situations the opportunity to experience family, compassion and the safety of “home.” Over the years, the Foster family graciously fostered 13 children.
In 2000, before John and his family began fostering children, John donated his kidney to his older brother. At the time, John was a carpenter and was forced to give up his income in order to have the procedure and recover. His wife stayed home to take care of the children, and before they knew it, they were falling on hard times with both John and his wife out of work. It was around Christmas, and the same way they always would, John and his family celebrated Christmas at home with gifts before traveling to their grandparents’ house. Christmas looked a little different this year, though. To their surprise, an anonymous neighbor, who had heard about John’s kidney donation through a local news station, had left a garbage full of Christmas gifts for John, his wife, and his four children.
“We still have no idea who it was,” John says. “It still makes me emotional to think someone we didn’t know put that kind of thought into our family and gift us like that.”
John is eternally grateful for this generosity from a stranger and continues to give back. He provided the greatest gift of home and family to 13 foster children. And now, with Legacy, he can provide children and teens with Christmas gifts yearly through the Adopt-A-Family Program with our national charitable partner – Volunteers of America!