Dear friends,
The holidays present a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come together, and 2024 was a landmark year for BMCF. We relaunched our Foster Youth Resource Fair, awarded our highest number of scholarships, hosted community-building events like our tea with Dr. Thelma Day to encourage people to share their talents, and so much more.
This can also be a season of uncertainty, stress, and loneliness for the foster care community, making BMCF’s programs especially meaningful. Thanks to generous supporters like you, we’ll once again host Thanksgiving for current and former foster youth, providing a delicious traditional meal, giveaways, and fellowship. In December, we’ll celebrate our support groups for kinship carers and moms who were once in foster care so they can receive the attention they provide daily for others.
This coming year, I invite you to deepen your involvement with our mission. Whether it’s clothing, food, housing, school, or transportation, foster youths’ needs are growing. Your support through donating, volunteering, following us on Instagram and Facebook, or simply spreading the word is irreplaceable. We need and value you!
Let’s continue to wrap LA’s foster care community in love, not just during the holidays, but all year-round.
Warmly,
Jackie Broxton
CEO and President
The Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation
BMCF’s scholarship program is expanding! In 2024, submissions increased by 75 percent and we awarded nearly $100,000 to recipients across LA County. Since 2018, we’ve distributed more than $600,000 to help current and former foster youth fulfill their academic and career ambitions! The 2025 scholarship application opens in February at biddymason.com/scholarships.
The holidays are some of the busiest months of the year for BMCF, and we often receive a spike in emergency funding requests for current and former foster youth. By including BMCF in your charitable giving this season, we can say yes to meeting their needs! Here’s how you can help:
- Support our Peer Emergency Fund: If you’ve received a BMCF scholarship or believe in our mission, we encourage you to pay it forward. Your gift will fund gas, groceries, and other essentials for LA’s foster care community. Visit biddymason.com/donate to give.
- Make a Year-End Gift Through Cash, Check, or Gift of Stock: Maximize your tax-deductible benefits by giving before December 31! Please scan the QR code to give or mail a check to the Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation at PO Box 41711, Los Angeles, CA 90041. To give stock, contact Jackie Broxton at [email protected].
- Matching Gifts: When you donate, check to see if your employer will match your charitable contribution to double your impact!
- Become a Corporate Partner: Leverage the power of your business to support our mission—contact Jackie Broxton at [email protected] for partnership opportunities.
BMCF was united in grief this summer over the passing of Ellis Gordon Jr. He served on the Board of Directors from its inception, lending his discernment, generosity, and unmatched sense of humor to our mission.
Ellis always referred to BMCF as “The Little Engine That Could” and helped lay the foundation to support foster youth well into the future. We celebrate the impact of his presence, wisdom, and heart for others now and forever.
BMCF recently hosted Discovering Freedom, a Town Hall Event designed to knit external and foster care communities together. Historians with the National Park Service and the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom unveiled research on Biddy Mason and local evidence of the Underground Railroad and engaged attendees in a Q&A on how to raise awareness of Black history in LA. Thank you to our co-hosts and event sponsor Starbucks Coffee for making this partnership possible!
BMCF’s Foster Youth Resource Fair this spring was a success! Participants connected with exhibitors to learn about colleges, scholarships, nonprofit services, careers, and more, then enjoyed a day of kayaking and boat rides. Thank you to our volunteers and co-sponsors Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Starbucks Coffee, DCFS, and the Office of LA County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell for helping revive this event!
The Starbucks Foundation has awarded BMCF a $9,000 Neighborhood Grant! Neighborhood Grants launched in 2019 to generate sustainable local impact through nonprofits. We’re grateful to have received one of the largest grants out of the 33,000 organizations nominated by Starbucks employees.
