Love by Choice: Help Spread the Love this Season

What a great topic for the month of love, February! Love by Choice is a nonprofit, consisting of three parts. Love by Choice focuses on education and support for foster families, including drug and alcohol issues, behavior issues due to trauma, and other support. The Second part is the Mia Project. The foster children come into the system often with no pictures of themselves. Jennifer Ray Photography gives foster children a session per year at no charge. And the third part is Izzy’s Closet.

In Montana, and probably every other state, some families need help with children who cannot be taken care of by their own parents for a myriad of different reasons. These children are placed in foster care and other temporary parents are found to provide the love and resources these children need. When the children are placed in foster care they come with nothing except the clothes on their backs, no coats, extra shoes, pajamas, school supplies, and or toys. It was one such family, Warren and Jenn Calkin, who took a child into their lives to care for. I’Zaya was placed with the family who had to scramble to find clothing, blankets, etc., in just a few hours. Then an idea popped into their heads. If it was difficult for them, it must be difficult for others. The idea of Izzy’s Closet came into reality with donations from the awesome community they lived in; a closet was started in their garage. Izzy’s Closet provides new, packaged underwear, socks, bags, and gently used clothing in a variety of sizes. In Malta a Closet is starting up thanks to the generosity of Dannette Love and Tia Stiles. Some expenses involved are the shelving and totes, in addition to the actual clothing, car seats and cribs.

Love by Choice is always in need of funds. They are hosting the Empowered to Connect Conference in April, using some funds for refreshments and child care. Educational materials need to be printed and distributed. The construction of shelves, totes, and frames for the photos, and so much more. If you have questions, donations, or want to volunteer to help, or if you are a foster family needing assistance, call Jenn Calkin at 654-4682! A few months ago I bought a raffle ticket to help the cause because I believe that these people are doing so much for our children who can't speak up for themselves.

I didn't really pay attention to what the raffle prize was, until I got a call informing me that I won! I won! I won! I was so excited! What did I win? A two night stay at the Lodge on Whitefish Lake for two people and $100 for the Boat Club Restaurant! I made my reservations, met my sisters and had a wonderful time! Thank you so much, Danette Love for selling me the ticket, and to Jenn Caulkin for drawing my name! The Lodge was a fantastic venue and so accommodating!