Gift~Away Events

Free events for foster/resource, kinship, adoptive and birth families receiving services from Kids & Families Together. Evento gratuito para familias de KFT adoptivas,  de recursos, de parentesco, y biologicas.

Back to School Gift~Away-August 14, 2021

With River Community Church, our annual Back to School Gift~Away event will take place on August 14, 2021 from 10:30am -12:30pm in Ventura.

This will be a drive-thru event and children, with their families, will receive backpacks filled with back to school supplies and other donations.

Registration for this event will start by July 1, 2021

Families can register the child(ren) in their care through their KFT peer or parent partner, clinician, administrative program staff. For questions regarding your peer partner & educator, contact 805-643-1446 ext. 253. For other inquiries, contact ext. 202 or events@kidsandfamilies.org.

Volunteers needed:

Seeking volunteers to help set-up in the morning for the event, help during the event with registration/handing out donations, and/or help with breaking down the event/unloading supplies back at our office. To volunteer, click on the link:  https://www.volunteerventuracounty.org/agency/mgrNeeds/?agency_id=53693 or 
for more information contact Jeni Futvoye 805-643-1446 ext. 108/805-940-6323, or jfutvoye@kidsandfamilies.org.

Donations needed: (see below for a suggested list per grade level)
Donations needed: backpacks, school supplies , and new clothing/shoes for children Pre-K to College

Ways to Donate:

• Visit our Amazon Wishlist to donate toward this event: https://a.co/hGx10tB
• Donations can also be mailed to Resource Family Support, Kids & Families Together, 864 E. Santa Clara St., Ventura, 93001.

• Collect backpacks/supplies and schedule a drop-off/pick-up.
• Make a donation and we will purchase what is needed: igfn.us/form/wU82SQ
• Text to donate: FAM (on 91999)

For more information contact: 805-643-1446 ext. 108/131,
email: events@kidsandfamilies.org, or visit:
www.kidsandfamilies.org/giftaway-events/

 

 

Preschool/Pre-K

Small backpack, hand sanitizer, pencil case, crayons, washable markers, colored pencils, blunt scissors, glue sticks, Wide ruled paper/composition notebook, and 2 chubby beginner wood pencils.

Grade K-3

Backpack size 15-17”, hand sanitizer, pencil case, crayons, washable marker, colored pencils, scissors, glue sticks, pocket folders, #2 pencils, binder, white paper, 1” binder, ruler, and composition notebooks.

Grade 4-6

Backpack size 15-17”, Scissors, Glue sticks, ruler with centimeters & inches, 8 pack of washable markers, 1 package of colored pencils, 4 red pens, 2 highlighters, 4 Expo markers + one sock or piece of cloth for erasing, 2 packs of pencils (Please not mechanical if your child plays with the lead), 1 personal pencil sharpener with a collection container, 1 container of hand sanitizer, 3 Spiral Notebooks, 1 Composition Book, 1 Zippered pencil pouch (not box), 3-4 Pocket folders, and 1.5 inch 3 ring binder/paper/dividers.

Grade: Middle School 6-8

Full-size backpacks: with a print or sold colors, Pens, Mechanical Pencils or #2 pencils/sharpener, Eraser, Colored pencils, High lighters/expo markers, Binder 1.5”/dividers, 3-4 pocket folders, 3 Spiral Notebooks, 1 Composition Book, Flash cards, Graphing paper, Mini staplers & staples, Book covers, Subject dividers, 3 x 5 Note cards, Flashdrive, and Scientific calculator

Grade: High School 9-12

Backpack size 17-21”, full-size: with a print or solid colors, 1 container of hand sanitizer, 3 Spiral Notebooks, 1 Composition Book, 1 Zippered pencil pouch (not box), 3-4 Pocket folders, 1.5-2 inch 3 ring binder/paper/dividers, Scissors, 1 ruler with centimeters & inches, 1 package of colored pencils, Pens/pencils, 2 highlighters, 4 Expo markers, 1 personal pencil sharpener with a collection container, Graphing paper/college ruled paper, Scientific and graphing calculator, Book covers, Flash cards, and Flash drive.

Thank you for your support! 

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Event Registration Procedure

Dear K&FT Families,

We have a new procedure for signing up for our events and gift~aways. 

In order to sign-up for our events, the staff person working with you will complete the registration. Through your KFT staff member, you can expect to attend at least one event per year. KFT serves hundreds of Ventura County families per year. We are working hard to serve all of our families at our events with essential goods and other donations.

Please contact your staff member to register (peer partner & educator, parent educator/parent advocate, clinician or program admin staff member). Once registered, you will receive a registration confirmation email within one week of the scheduled event. If you are unable to attend the event, you must contact your staff person or ext. 108/131 within 48 hours of the scheduled event. We always have a waitlist and we want to serve as many families at our events as possible. Thank you for understanding.

For questions regarding your peer partner & educator, contact 805-643-1446 ext. 253. For other inquiries, contact ext. 202 or events@kidsandfamilies.org.

Estimadas familias de K&FT,

Tenemos un nuevo procedimiento para inscribirse en nuestros eventos y obsequios

Para inscribirse en nuestros eventos, la persona del personal que trabaja con usted completará el registro. A través de su miembro del personal de KFT, puede esperar asistir al menos a un evento por año. KFT sirve a cientos de familias del condado de Ventura por año. Trabajamos arduamente para servir a todas nuestras familias en nuestros eventos con bienes esenciales y otras donaciones.

Comuníquese con su miembro del personal para registrarse (compañero y educador, educador de padres / defensor de padres, médico o miembro del personal administrativo del programa). Una vez registrado, recibirá un correo electrónico de confirmación de registro dentro de una semana del evento programado. Si no puede asistir al evento, debe comunicarse con su personal o con la ext. 108/131 dentro de las 48 horas posteriores al evento programado. Siempre tenemos una lista de espera y queremos servir a tantas familias en nuestros eventos como sea posible. Gracias por entender.

Si tiene preguntas sobre su compañero y educador, comuníquese al 805-643-1446 ext. 253. Para otras consultas, comuníquese con la ext. 202 o events@kidsandfamilies.org.

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           ARCHIVED GIFT~AWAY EVENTS

Bike Rodeo Event 2021

             

Saturday, June 19, 2021 from 10am – 1pm, Ventura. 

With our partners, donors, volunteers and support from our community, we were able to serve over 80 children at our bike safety event and over 12 children learned how to ride a bike. We are pleased each child learned skills on how to ride a bike/safety, enhance bike skills, and received a helmet/fitting. We also provided bike checks, treats, a grab bag and more! We were able to prove over 40 bikes to children who did not have a bike…thanks to our wonderful donors! 

 

Check out our Bike Rodeo 2021 photo gallery! There are amazing pictures from our event: 
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mbAPsM59KFKstorH9

We are grateful to our partners and sponsors for donating helmets, bikes, coloring books, bikes safety gear, and more:

• Crosspointe Church
• Bike Ventura
• CHP Ventura and retirees, CHP Moorpark, and CHP San Luis Obispo
• The Gene Haas Foundation
• Project Bicycle Love
• Royal Family Camp
• Amber’s Light Camarillo
• The Local Love Project
• Open Air Bicycles
• Raising Hope
• Community members

Also, we had a successful event due to our dedicated and amazing volunteers from:
Bike Ventura, CHP, Amber’s Light, Left Coast Parrot Heads and our local community! We are grateful for their service and helping so many children in care…just in time for some Summer fun… in the sun and on their bikes! We cannot do what we do without the help of others! We are truly grateful!  

Spring Fling Gift~Away

 

 

Caregiver Appreciation Gift~Away Event
February 27, 2021, Ventura

Check out the photo gallery from the event: https://photos.app.goo.gl/aXdWFWdWaWz2BUuv6.

We were able to serve 43 caregivers and show them how much we care about them and everything they do for the children in their care.

We provided each family with a $50 gift card donated from Gene Haas Foundation, toys for the children and like new clothing, a self-care bag filled with lotion, lip balm, tea, tissue, a box of goodies by Soul Flour Bakery and more. They also received a box filled with a variety of home goods donated by Tuesday Morning, laundry detergent purchased at cost from Grocery Outlet Ventura, and lastly, a yummy cupcake for each caregiver.

We always feel so much gratitude with the support and generosity given toward our events-for our families! We are grateful to our donors who helped us show our families how much we care about them: Gene Haas Foundation, Cooper’s Downtown Closet, Crosspointe Church’s clothing closet, Grocery Outlet Ventura, Shelter Care Resources, Tuesday Morning, Soul Flour Bakery, individual donors and those who purchased from our Amazon wish-list.

We had a special guest appearance by Mrs. USA Universal-Wendy Lerian, who, during the drive-thru event, was an amazing cheerleader for our families and provided toy tiaras to all the children.

We were able to have an amazing event due to our 18 volunteers who helped with setting up, providing the wonderful donations during the event and then helped with clean-up. Special thank you to our events planning committee with Lisa Wolf and Kaitlyn & her family! You all rock! We truly could not do what we do without the help of our volunteers…they bring the magic to our events!

Thank you everyone for your support, dedication, and commitment to serving our families! Each one of us makes a difference!

Cozy Holiday Gift~Away Event
December 12, 2020, Ventura

This event has always captured the heart of the holiday season and this year, especially this year, was no different! Please enjoy the picture gallery: https://photos.app.goo.gl/n8Ey2NfihaMweWTS6

Cozy Holiday 2020 was a contactless, drive-thru event set up with beautiful holiday themed booths. Families were able to drive through and view … a Train Depot, Gingerbread Village, the Grinch’s Sleigh and Santa’s Toy Shoppe. Children also dropped off letters (in a safe way) to Santa & Mrs. Clause as they drove by Santa’s Living Room. Approximately 166 children from 58 families were served by this event. Carrie McAuliffe Sandoval, a member of the event organizing team commented, “Every single family came through the event. That’s never happened before that I can recall. We typically sign up 20% extra knowing not everyone will show up for one reason or another… not this time, we were at 100% attendance! The need is great this year, and we’re doing our little part.” Families were provided items such as store gift cards, toys, bikes, electronics, pajamas and throw-blankets. Despite the current situation, this was a fun family event with music, lots of holiday decorations and treats! McAuliffe Sandoval continues, “On any given day, all together it was a fantastic event… on a day during a pandemic… we knocked this one out of the park! All the way to the North Pole!” Cozy Holiday was blessed again this year with continued partnerships from so many organizations and families. They keep ‘showing up’ for the families we serve in devoted and astonishing ways!

We would like to thank our partners & donors who made this event possible…

The Gene Haas Foundation, Crosspointe Church Ventura, James Storehouse, Port Hueneme CA Toys for Tots, Project Bicycle Love, United Way of Ventura County, Spark of Love Toy Drive, Fire Departments of Ventura County, CHiPs for Kids CHP Toy Drive, St. Jude’s Catholic Community, Temple Beth Torah, My Stuff Bags Foundation, Sinaloa Middle School, Rotary Club of Simi Valley, Shelter Care Resources, Valentino’s Take & Bake Pizza, Kelsey Contreras & staff of Old Navy Pacific View Mall (for warm and cozy pajamas), Donna & David Pu’u of Betty Belts/Ocean Room Gallery (for beautiful sea glass jewelry), Left Coast Parrot Heads, What the Fifty’s Group, residents of GranVida Senior Living & Memory Care of Carpinteria (for beautiful handmade blankets), Roxanne & Keira Danielsen representing Camarillo Amber’s Light Lions Club, Lennie Vilches representing Sunrise Optimist Club of Ventura the McKee Family, the Kirwin Family, the Montes Family, the Wolf Family, the Woolley Family, Soulflour Bakeshop with Stephanie Cruz, Tuesday Morning, and the SoCal Honda Dealers Helpful Honda Team!

We are also extremely grateful to our numerous volunteers who helped us prep for the event and the day of the event. We are only able to do what we do with the caring hearts and dedication of our countless volunteers! Our volunteers help to make a difference in the lives of our families and during a critical time where help is needed the most!

Harvest Fest Gift~Away Event
October 24, 2020, Ventura

Please click on the link to view our Harvest Fest 2020 Photo Gallery https://photos.app.goo.gl/3zizPEmMgWq4Hnem6.

Kids & Families Together (K&FT) and Heart 2 Heart would like to thank our generous sponsors, donors, partners, and volunteers for their generous support and contributions toward our 11th Annual Harvest Fest Gift Away event!

Special appreciation to Crosspoint Church for hosting the event and making it such a success! The event was also enriched with providing essential needs of a gift card and more from our generous sponsor, The Gene Haas Foundation!

This year, Harvest Fest was a contactless, drive-thru event set up with several Trunk O’ Treat-style booths with various themes to view as families drove through. Despite the current situation, this was a fun family event with music, lots of Fall/Halloween decorations and treats! Many of our volunteers and families dressed up in costume and families decorated their cars for a Harvest/Halloween Parade. It was a fantastic event with over 230 children with 77 families who received gift cards, costumes, pumpkins, candy, essential items, art/craft/science kits and more!

We are so grateful for your continued partnership and commitment to helping children in care with their families!

                                 

         

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