By Michelle Schaefer
Director Of Strategy And Impact
As we rush around, shopping for family and friends during the holidays, we often struggle to figure out the right gift for each of our loved ones. The wish to bring joy to others, paired with a lack of good gift ideas, adds to our stress during this busy time of year. Despite the challenge of finding the perfect gift, we tend to think of gift cards as “giving up.” Or that gift cards mean “I just don’t know you well enough to know what you like, or I didn’t have time to shop, so I got you a gift card to pick out your own gift.” It can cause us to feel guilt that we should have tried harder, should have brainstormed more, should have shopped longer. We therefore tend to perceive gift cards as impersonal gifts.
For older youth in foster care, however, receiving gift cards provides a unique opportunity for the youth to shop for themselves and to choose things that truly represent their personal style - their likes and dislikes.
Choice is a luxury that children in foster care rarely experience. So many life altering decisions are outside of their control – which foster family they live with, whether their foster home will change, how frequently they can visit with their birth parents, to name a few. Even when it comes to basic essentials, foster children often don’t get a say. Many youth receive hand-me-down clothing – things that may show signs of wear, may not fit in the most flattering way, or may not last as long as they would hope. When they do receive new items, the new clothing is often provided all at once, based on a requested size, but the purchaser of the clothing doesn’t really know the child’s favorite colors or style preferences. The gift of choice is exceptional for these youth.
For a youth in foster care, a gift card means they can purchase that pink, sequined shirt that they saw in a window display, jeans that fit perfectly and make them feel their best, those red Nike sneakers that they’ve been dreaming of, or a new dress for the party that they’ve been invited to. A gift card to an athletic store or an expensive, stylish clothing boutique lets them buy brand-name sneakers or clothing. This can help foster youth feel proud, confident, and more at ease around friends and peers. A gift card to Target or Amazon might let that youth buy the specific hair or skin care products that they prefer. A Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts gift card helps them indulge during an outing with friends.
Each year, prior to the holiday season, CASAs in Passaic County meet with their CASA children and ask the kids to provide lists of their holiday wishes. Then we share those wish lists with our generous donors, who help to fulfill them. Overwhelmingly, our older youth ask for gift cards and relish the opportunity to shop for themselves. And yet, ironically, donors tend to prefer to give specific items as gifts, rather than gift cards, because of the notion that gift cards are impersonal.
For youth in foster care, though, that “impersonal” gift card gives the rare opportunity to choose gifts that really are personal. So if you’re wondering how to make this holiday season sparkle for a youth in foster care, please consider a gift card donation to Passaic County CASA, and know that the gift card recipient will be overjoyed to receive the gift of choice.