Youngster collects items for kids in foster care

Special to Leader-Press 

Four-year-old Braelyn Liles counts the bottles of shampoo as she places them in the plastic bin. But, the numbers climb too high to count. Liles, the reigning Little Miss Five Hills, chose the platform, Fostering Hope, to promote awareness for children in foster care and collect the basic items they need to survive…items most children take for granted.
“I know these kids are sad because I would cry and miss my mommy and daddy if we were not together,” Braelyn said. 
May is Foster Care Month. In the United States, there are 438,000 children in foster care. In Texas, more than 30,000 children are in foster care and more than 4,000 of them are waiting for families that will adopt and love them. 
Braelyn, who turns 5 in July, hosted a stand with her siblings on Lemonade Day Weekend and passed out a list of items that children in foster care need. By the time the Liles family packed up the stand on Sunday night, Braelyn had collected more than 1,200 items that will be donated to children in foster care. 
“Kids needs all this stuff, but I like coloring books and crayons the most because coloring makes me happy and it will make them happy too,” Liles said.
Liles and her family have learned first-hand about foster care and the adoption process.
“We chose this as her platform because we as a family recently went through the process to become foster parents to a child in Child Protective Services’ care and learned that so many children come into the system with absolutely nothing except the clothes on their backs,” said Christy Liles, Braelyn’s mother. “Often when they grab their few belongings, they only have trash bags to carry them in.”
Braelyn sorted the shampoo, conditioner, soap, socks, underwear and hundreds of items in separate bins so they are ready to be put into small suitcases for younger children and duffle bags for older children. 
“We just hope that the items can provide these children with some hope and happiness in a situation that they didn’t ask to be put in,” Liles said.
Braelyn smiles as she stands back to look at the bins full of items she collected and will continue to collect throughout the year.
“I want kids to know that they are wanted and loved and I hope they find a family of their own very soon,” Braelyn said.