Five Acres Announces their Holiday Open House and annual Toy Drive

Community members are invited to come celebrate the season & support children and families in need with a call for toy donations

(Friday, November 13, 2015, Altadena, CA) Community members and friends of Five Acres are invited to attend the Holiday Open House on Thursday, December 3, 2015, in Altadena.

The annual heartwarming and family friendly event will feature Story Pirates. Originally founded in New York City, Story Pirates is a nationally recognized arts organization that works to engage children and students by showing them that their ideas, words and stories are important. The troupe will feature an array of narratives; holiday stories and other tales for guests of the Holiday Open House to delight in.

The evening will feature an arts and crafts room offering a variety of holiday themed activities for children and their families, along with holiday caroling and an assortment of festive libations and desserts.

There will be ongoing tours of Five Acres’ main campus, beginning at 4:00pm with the live program and performances beginning promptly at 5:00pm.

During the holiday season, Five Acres asks the community for support of its annual Toy Drive, a holiday initiative that grants holiday wishes for the children in residence and the hundreds of community-based families who rely on our support. Each year, Five Acres hopes to make the holidays a little more joyful for our children and families.

Your unwrapped toy donations can be delivered to Five Acres between December 3 and December 14, M-F/8:00a.m.to 6:00pm and SAT 9:00a.m. to 3:00p.m.

For the second year in a row, Five Acres is asking interested donors and corporate partners to consider becoming a Family Angel or a Cottage Angel. A Family Angel gift will sponsor a community-based family by granting at least one wish for each family member; requests for family size and child ages are accepted. Cottage Angels help with holiday beautification for one of the residential cottages or group home. A $500.00 contribution will provide a holiday tree, ornaments, accents like garland, stockings and wreaths for ten children living in our residential treatment center.

For more information on ways to give the gift of hope this season to Five Acres children and families please contact Volunteer Coordinator, Susan Lowe at 626.773.3751 or slowe@5acres.org.

For additional inquiries, please call Director of Communications Rebecca Haussling at rhaussling@5acres.org or 626-773-3809 or go to www.5acres.org/events

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About Five Acres

Five Acres is a child and family services agency strengthening families and preventing child abuse through treatment and education in community-based and residential programs. Established as an orphanage in 1888, today Five Acres offers an array of services including community-based services, residential treatment, foster care and adoption, supporting the more than 8,500 children and families in five counties, including Los Angeles. www.5acres.org

(Monday November 2, 2015, Altadena, CA)  – Five Acres hosted its 2^nd annual Permanency Launch Party and invited key supporters, donors and board members including sponsors Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Kanel Foundation, The Langham Huntington Hotel, Merrill Lynch Private Banking/Bank of America and community partners; LATHER, Meat District Co, Morgan Stanley Pasadena, Pasadena Convention Center and Live on Green, Pasadena Tournament of Roses, along with local government representatives and press.

The event was held at Cross Campus; the latest state of the art work space and community hub for tech, innovators, entrepreneurs and creative people. Five Acres chose this venue as the launch pad to unveil the display and the innovative, artistic representation of the more than 20,000 children in LA County foster care.

This year’s campaign introduced supporters and guests to a “mobile PSA”; a six foot high, nine feet wide pop-up display featuring Girl 5A through photographic and video storytelling; Girl 5A is a six year old girl who is living in foster care and needs a forever family to call home. The display includes a 36” monitor and a one minute video sharing her personal journey. The display will be featured at various venues throughout the month of November tied to National Adoption Awareness and during the holidays at strategically placed locations including the Pasadena Convention Center’s “Live on Green” event and the Tournament of Roses post parade; with an estimated 120,000 guests to visit the floats after the parade.

The message is clear; LA County needs more parent recruits and the goal of this campaign is to identify 20,000 families for children in foster care, by the year 2020. It’s a lofty goal but Five Acres is up to the task. Since premiering the campaign in 2014, Five Acres has been able to secure more than 1,365 permanent families for children in foster care.  The campaign has increased the recruitment of parents by 79% and the overall campaign continues to bring much needed awareness to the crisis that is the LA County foster care system.

Five Acres CEO Chanel Boutakidis shares,

“After just one year we have been able to help 1,365 children discharge to permanency. The largest numbers were because of our prevention and intervention efforts. Children were able to stay safely with their biological family and did not enter the foster care system to begin with. Although the number of inquiries and those starting the certification process to become a foster parent has doubled, our greatest challenge continues to be the need to recruit many more; both foster and adoptive families. Although our numbers have increased we still need more. Many more! We need to do better if we want permanency for the 20,000 children. We need to continue to rally for change in our communities. If you want to learn more about how you can get involved, please visit our website or call Five Acres today.”

The event featured complimentary wine, signature cocktails;  lime green, “appletinis” and custom-designed salami and cheese “clip boards,” butternut squash fritters, pear, blue cheese, fig chutney and pistachio crostata with honey drizzle and mushroom vilos, from City Fare Catering.

To learn more about Cross Campus Pasadena visit www.crosscampus.us/locations/pasadena

Have you ever thought about becoming a foster parent, or adopting? Visit www.5acres.org  for more information and to learn ways to get involved, educate, donate or become a foster parent today!

ABOUT FIVE ACRES:

Five Acres is a child and family services agency strengthening families and preventing child abuse through treatment and education in community-based and residential programs. Established as an orphanage in 1888, today Five Acres offers an array of services including community-based services, residential treatment, foster care and adoption, supporting the nearly 8,400 children and families in five counties, including Los Angeles. www.5acres.org