Needs List and Care Fund

Individuals or groups may wish to purchase items or designate cash donations for specific items and care to benefit COBYS ministries.

COBYS Care Fund

(formerly Care for Kids)

At COBYS, we’re called to provide care that goes beyond the basics. Our services are delivered with compassion, dignity and hope in a way that recognizes the uniqueness of each child, adult and family we serve. By designating your gift to the COBYS Care Fund, you can directly support care that includes:

• Counseling – We recognize the importance of mental health and strive to provide access to services to as many children and adults across our community as possible. Your gifts help ensure this access to care can continue.
• Enhanced Child Preparation Services – Our highly trained caseworkers connect with children in the foster care system by providing child preparation services. Children receive these services at points of transition during care, such as moving to a new resource home, being reunited with biological parents or adoption finalization. Your gift helps enhance these interactions, it is the difference between meeting with a foster teen for just coffee or a full lunch. Meeting with a young child in a park or going to play mini golf. Families and children experiencing pottery painting. Providing a special gift for a teen. These things change the interaction; it makes a difference.
• Lessons, camps, educational opportunities and special life experiences for foster children – Our mission is to provide a safe and loving home for children in the foster care system. Our resource families go above and beyond the basics for kiddos in their care by getting them connected with lessons, sports, camps, special educational and life opportunities because they know it makes a difference in their lives. It is also expensive and sometimes isn’t covered by the modest county funds families receive. Your gift helps kids join a soccer league because a sport is more than kicking a ball, it teaches appropriate social interaction. It allows kids to go on a field trip or be a part of a school club because these provide life experience beyond the classroom.
• Kids’ Closet – When a toddler needs a winter coat in size 18 months and we don’t have it in stock, we make the purchase. Kids are special and sometimes their clothing and personal care needs are special too, we make sure they have what they need.

If you would like to donate to this fund, simply write “COBYS Care Fund” in the memo line of your check or designate this fund in the Gift Designation field from the drop-down menu of your online donation.

Kids’ Closet

(for foster children served by our foster care, adoption, and permanency programs)

If you have kids, you know they need a lot of things (and that it isn’t always easy to keep things stored away neatly). COBYS has one big closet for all of our kids. Each foster child coming into care receives a backpack filled with toys, games, personal care items, a Bible, and more. In addition, we visit our closet to find gifts for special occasions, supplies for caseworkers to use for therapeutic activities, car seats to transport children to appointments, and items to meet emergency needs.

The complete, current list of items is available on our Amazon Wish List  

IMPORTANT KIDS CLOSET NOTE:
We are blessed by donations from across the community. If you are planning to make a donation or hold a supply drive, please contact Janice Burkhart at jburkhart@cobys.org prior to holding the supply drive or bringing the donation to our Murry Hill Center office. This allows us to confirm need of specific items and also availability of staff to receive the donation. View current Top Five Needs List.

Thank you for your interest in supporting the kids we serve.