The KidsPeace Scranton and Honesdale offices were honored to once again participate at Kids Day presented by the Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond on Saturday, July 23^rd.  It was a hot, sunny Nascar race weekend, so many adults and children were thirsty and grateful for the cold bottles of water we handed out. Children also created beautiful butterflies at our craft station. The children were so proud of their creations and so were we! The kids all did a fantastic job and had a blast at the event. We look forward to participating again next year. 

On Saturday, June 4^th the Scranton/ Honesdale office celebrated their 2^nd Annual Foster Parent Appreciation Picnic at the Paupack Township Recreation Complex in honor of May as Foster Care Month. Families enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, cotton candy, snow cones, popcorn and more. Kids had fun playing on the playground, flying kites, blowing bubbles, playing games and winning prizes. Thank you to our phenomenal foster parents for making this year’s picnic so fantastic! 

The Scranton/ Honesdale KidsPeace staff was so excited to participate in the 2022 Healthy Kids Day event held at the Carbondale YMCA on Saturday May 7^th. Healthy Kids Day is an annual, fun  event hosted by all YMCA’s around the country to educate children, adults, and families about living healthier and being active, especially with summer coming. This year’s theme was “READY, SET, PLAY!” KidsPeace provided healthy snacks such as fruit bars, oat bars, rice cakes, and healthy popcorn. In addition, the children were invited to create a butterfly craft in which  many of the kids gave their creation to their mothers for Mother’s Day. The kids and adults all enjoyed this wonderful event and we look forward to participating once again next year. 

On Sunday, December 19^th the Scranton and Honesdale offices hosted a Christmas party for all of our wonderful foster parents and foster children at the Jefferson Township Fire Hall. The children colored holiday coloring sheets and decorated ornaments that they  later took home and hung on their own trees. The children had a special visit from the big man himself, Santa Claus and were each given a present. Children were able to talk with Santa and express their Christmas wishes and have their photo taken. Food, drinks, and desserts were served as well. Thank you to everyone who helped make this holiday party a great success. 

On Thursday, October 28, 2021 the Scranton/ Honesdale KidsPeace offices participated in the Honesdale Jaycees Halloween Parade along Main Street in Honesdale. There were several thousand children and families that gathered to watch and cheer on the parade. The parade is one of the biggest events for the city each year and KidsPeace was thrilled to be a part of it this year. Our vehicle was decorated in spiders, skulls, pumpkins and KidsPeace signs. We handed out candy, bubble gum, and chips to the children as we walked by, but the kids all loved our littlest KidsPeace mascot, Fredo the puppy most of all. A few of our foster families came out to support the parade as well. We look forward to next year’s parade and seeing all of the smiling children once again.

On Sunday, October 24^th the KidsPeace Scranton office participated in the Blue Chip Animal Refuge’s Trunk or Treat at the Dallas High School. The event helped raise money for all the sick and adoptable animals at the shelter. The KidsPeace vehicle was spookily decorated with skeletons, spiders, tombstones, and more. KidsPeace staff encouraged the children to sing, dance, or tell a joke. Each child received a goodie bag full of candy and KidsPeace stickers. More than 250 kids and families took part in the wonderful event. 

On Monday May 24^th the KidsPeace Honesdale office hosted our first annual Golf Tournament held at the Honesdale Golf Club. Golfers enjoyed 18 holes of golf, hot dogs on the 9^th hole, a basket raffle, 50/50, and finished the day out with a delicious steak dinner. 

Three lucky golfers had the opportunity to take a swing at a chance for a hole-in-one to win $1,000,000! Unfortunately, no one made the shot, but came pretty close. 

The weather was perfect and everyone had a great time! The staff of the Honesdale office would like to thank all of the generous donors, sponsors, golfer and especially all of the volunteers for making it such a successful event. We look forward to hosting this event again next year!

On Thursday August 12^th the Scranton/ Honesdale offices hosted a fun night out for our foster families and staff at the Scranton Railriders Minor baseball game at PNC Field in Moosic. KidsPeace was recognized as the community organization of the night. The Railriders faced off against the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs winning 10-3 in an exciting game.

On Saturday, May 22^nd the Scranton/ Honesdale offices hosted a picnic/ BBQ to honor their foster families. May is Foster Care Month and the staff from the Scranton and Honesdale offices wanted to show our phenomenal families how much we appreciate all they do for the kids in foster care. Kids had an opportunity to play games, play on the playground, play basketball, make cupcakes, and enjoy a day of sunshine. We hope everyone had a great time and we look forward to holding another fun day out for all our families. Thank you for everything you do for the kids in your home! 

The KidsPeace FCCP Scranton and Honesdale offices were honored to participate in the 3^rd Annual Helping Hometown Heroes NEPA 5k &1 mile walk on Saturday, May 15^th 2021 at the Blakely Borough Recreation Complex. This year’s event was held to benefit Warrior Strong and Equines for Freedom. Our KidsPeace Team was there to honor our Hometown Hereos, support the benefit and continue to create awareness of the needs of our foster children and families.

The KidsPeace Scranton and Honesdale office team members participated in the YMCA Healthy Kids Day on April 24^th, 2021 at the Carbondale YMCA. Healthy Kids Day is a nationwide initiative that allows children and families to come together and have some fun while learning to make good choices about snacks, exercises and health. Children at the event were given the opportunity to plant their own fruits and vegtables with the KidsPeace staff and then take their plant home to care for it and watch it grow and flourish. It was a great day for the children, families and KidsPeace staff alike! 

KidsPeace Foster Care in Scranton/Honesdale held a family fun night. The fun night focused on painting rocks to place in the community and a night of social interaction with staff and other families. Some of the rocks that were made by the participants were amazing! We will be having another family fun night in the future. Be sure to contact us if you want to take part in our family fun nights!!

Scranton Foster Care office had a water stand outside of the office in the afternoon on Monday, September 21, 2020. Spreading the word about foster care by handing out water bottles and bookmarks with KidsPeace information on them. There will be a water table at the Honesdale Foster Care office on Tuesday, October 13, 2020 from 3pm to 5pm.

Christopher E. recently completed all the requirements he needed to in order to obtain his Eagle Scout rank with the Boy Scouts.  For his project, he along with a few volunteers, painted the community center where his scout meetings are held.  In order for Christopher to complete his project, he needed to create a plan of what he was going to do and then submit it to the Board of Approval in order to move forward with the project.  Christopher worked very hard on his project and everyone is very proud of his accomplishment.  Christopher has been involved with the Boy Scouts for the past few years and will be working at Boy Scout camp as a Junior Counselor for the third year in a row this upcoming summer.   

Recently, members of the Order of the Eastern Star who work with numerous charitable organizations, donated 15 boxes filled with crayons, coloring books, playing cards, stuffed animals and toys for the children in the KidsPeace Scranton and Honesdale foster care offices. This donation was part of a project known as OES Harmony Express which is designed to help boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 8 years old who are terminally ill, seriously ill or just need something special with a little love in it.    The Order of the Eastern Star consists of women from 5 Chapters known as the 11C located in Taylor, Clarks Green, Waymart, Hamlin and Olyphant.  

Lynnita’s interest in fostering goes back all the way to her childhood.  “I remember a time when the mother of a friend of mine died.  She left behind two boys, and I wanted them to come and live with our family.”

On Tuesday September 3, 2019, Haley became an official member of the Clayton family.  After being in foster care since 2014, Haley found her forever home.  Her adoptive parents, Bob and Esther Clayton, along with their daughter, Lizzy, and granddaughter, Bentley, welcomed Haley into their family with open arms.  This was a day Haley was looking forward to for a long time and could not wait to officially change her name to Haley Louise Clayton.  Congratulations to the whole Clayton family!

On July 31, 2019, Charles and Lisa Updike officially adopted their daughter, Amelia.  Amelia joins older siblings Daniel, Justin, Cassandra, Jesse and Chris.  The Updike’s celebrated Amelia’s adoption with a party following the adoption hearing.  Congratulations to the entire Updike family!

On June 14, 2019, Destiny E. graduated from Forest City High School. This was a great accomplishment for Destiny as she worked very hard to obtain her high school diploma. Although she was accepted at both Keystone College and Bloomsburg University for fall semester 2019, Destiny has chosen to take a year off and enter the work field in order to decide on what career path she would like to take in the future. While at Forest City High School Destiny was very active in extra-curricular activities. She was a member of the soccer and ski teams, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), Drama Club, Art Club and Chorus. She also worked part-time at Elk Mountain Ski Resort. Destiny really enjoyed being of the Drama Club with her favorite play being Shrek where she played two separate characters. She was part of the Three Blind Mice and was also fairy princess.

Best of luck to Destiny and the rest of the Class of 2019 as they move onto their next big adventure!!

Wallenpaupack Girl Scout Troops 51440 and 51441 recently donated Girl Scout Cookies to the foster families in our foster care program. Following their yearly cookie drive, Troops 51440 and 51441 decided to donate some of their left over cookies to children looking for their forever homes. They donated cases of Do-Di-Dos, Carmel Delights, Thin Mints, Shortbread, Peanut Butter Tagalongs, and Lemonades. The cookies were donated to the Scranton and Honesdale foster homes. 

Wallenpauck Boy Scout Troop 229 recently donated Birthday Bags to the clients in our foster care program.  Each bag contained party supplies, a cake mix and frosting as well as a baking pan.  The members of Troop 229 collected these supplies as part of their Peace Project for which they will receive a special crest to go around their Messenger of Peace badges on their uniforms.  The boys donated 10 bags for boys and 10 bags for girls that will get distributed throughout the year in both the Scranton and Honesdale foster homes.