Colorado organization Foster Fête provides custom birthdays for children in foster care

Children who are living in foster care often miss out on the fun parts of childhood, for example, special occasions like birthdays don't get celebrated. When a Colorado mom became aware of the gap in celebrating these children, she stepped up to fill the void. Renée Schneider started Foster Fête five years ago. 

"We provide awesome birthday celebrations for kids in foster care," Schneider said. "Fête is a French word that means day of celebration and that's really what I wanted. A day where these kids just really get to be kids and get to be fully celebrated."

The need is great among the foster community. Foster parents often don't have the extra money to provide a celebration for the children they're caring for. So far this year, Schneider and Foster Fête have provided 250 birthday bags. 

"We actually had a birthday last week for a 15-year-old girl ... it was for her and her sister, and the foster mom shared with me that it was the most powerful day because they both started crying. They had never been celebrated before. It just still really shocks me that a 15-year-old could never have been celebrated for their birthday," Schneider said. 

Schneider has partnered with other organizations and businesses that provide some of the gifts, more donations come in from her ongoing Amazon wish lists on her website. Her goal is the highest quality gift bag she can possibly create and that includes gifts the child has asked for specifically and often a custom cake. 

"I wanted to really make it custom for each kid so they knew it wasn't just a generic birthday. It was for them," she said. 

"My oldest is very sensory seeking so one of the gifts that he got when he was 2 was a crash pad, you know, so that he could tumble around on the floor," said Maryanne, a foster mom of two siblings. 

Maryanne is a single mom with three children total. Getting birthday help from Foster Fête is a huge help to her.  

"Just making sure that they are celebrated and taken care of like any other kids would be," she explained. 

LINK: Wednesday's Child on CBS Colorado

Foster Fête is a 501(c)(3). The organization accepts donations and referrals for its services through fosterfete.com.