The Foster Children's Foundation, Inc., received a $15,000 grant from the Jackson EMC Foundation for its Tomorrow Matters Mentoring Program, which teaches independent living skills to youth between the ages of 14 and 21 in foster care.

"Nearly three-fourths of the youth who come out of foster care end up homeless, jobless, involved in crime or in prison and dependent on government programs," says Suzanne Geske, executive director of the Foster Children's Foundation. "The mentoring program consists of a series of life skills workshops to help the youth overcome those negative statistics."

Workshop topics include money management and budgeting; cooking and nutrition; courts, voting and the political process; and community service and leadership. Workshop participants receive graduation certificates and are invited back as alumni to mentor the next group of participants. In January, eight foster teens returned to serve as mentors in training and help new youth in the program.

"Operation Round Up® funds make it possible for dreams to become a reality for many local foster children. Funding of this program will give these less fortunate youth the knowledge, tools, resources and caring mentors they need to help them succeed when they age out of foster care and put them on a path to provide for themselves and become productive citizens," Geske says. "If we show them opportunity, they will dream. If they dream and believe in themselves, they can reach their potential."