More than 800 wish lists being granted this holiday season for kids in Lee County

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — This whole week, Lee County is another home for Santa's workshop for the Volunteers of The Guardian Ad Litem Foundation. With generous donations from organizations and the community, more than 850 kids will have their holiday wish lists fulfilled.

The foundation provides additional resources to its volunteers and affiliated circuit non-profit organizations who advocate for kids in the foster care system. Those volunteers got to shop for those special kids this week.

"Every tag was fulfilled, which is very exciting. Tags that were placed on trees throughout Lee County at local establishments, who supported the initiative to make the holidays amazing this year. I mean it doesn't look like much now," said Jessica Stanfield with The Guardian Ad Litem Foundation of Southwest Florida as office rooms were still filled with hundreds of toys. "You can really feel the holiday spirit."

Throughout the year, the foundation is providing everything for kids; from clothing, to tutoring, to music lessons — anything to help them feel like a normal kid, Stanfield said.

"But as the holidays get closer, the volunteers start to ask our kiddos, what is it that you really want under the tree this year?"

Volunteers Eric Bivens and his father Carlton were loading up their cars on Wednesday afternoon, after they decided to support more than eight kids this year.

"It allows them to really be happy and for a moment forget that they’re part of the system," Eric said, who was also thankful to the donors this year. Now, his dad, joining in on the giving this holiday season for the first time. "Its very rewarding, its giving back."

Every year, Stanfield says she thinks the community support can’t get any bigger, but it does, especially this year after Hurricane Ian.

"Some of these toys are going to homes where kids lost everything, so these are replacing toys that were swept away in flood waters."

As Southwest Florida tries to regain normalcy, Stanfield says, normalcy is something foster kids struggle with daily.

But, with a strong community behind them and their volunteers, "They get to share a special moment with them, present them with their gifts and share something that a lot of us take for granted and the children that we serve are really happy to experience."

But the foundation still needs the community support year-round. Stanfield says after Hurricane Ian, the galas that would bring in funds to the non-profit had to be canceled because most of the venues suffered damage.

"Now more than ever we need the community to keep getting involved, any small thing helps, during, before and after the holidays."

If you would like to learn more about the foundation and how you can give back or get involved, click here.