Utah First Lady Abby Cox celebrates Utah foster families

PROVO – Many foster families in Utah received gift bags of goodies to thank them for helping hundreds of children in the system.

Saturday’s event in Provo was part of First Lady Abby Cox’s “Show Up” initiative.

“This is what Utah does. Utah is amazing,” said Melissa Hart, executive director of Utah Kids Belong – a nonprofit group that works with children in the care system.

Hart and several other groups who also work with foster children gave away gift bags to foster families to say thanks.

The bags contained tickets to events, family-friendly activities, a blanket, and other company-donated items.

“This is about children in our state who are injured and have amazing families who went out of their way to help them,” Hart said.

Cox, who also gave gifts to families, said these caring children gave them much-needed stability.

“We wanted to put the spotlight on families who are absolutely angelic by taking in children, who are the most vulnerable in our state and have been caused by trauma and grief,” said Cox.

Cox is helping these children now and later believes it will help them and society.

Many foster families in Utah received a special thank you today. It’s part of the “Show Up” initiative by First Lady @AbbyPalmerCox. We’re making a story about it for @ KSL5TV at 5pm and 9pm. # ksltvpic.twitter.com / dEH9HrhPZe

– Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) May 8, 2021

“That way we can solve some of our incarceration, human trafficking and suicide problems,” said Cox. “These children are at risk, at a much higher level than our average population.”

The gifts are nice, but the families said they do because they care.

“We do it honestly because children love,” said Ben Hunter. “To be able to offer them something that they might not otherwise have is really nice and touches our heart because we know that we have made a difference for them.”

There are approximately 1,200 foster families in Utah, but hundreds more children are still waiting.

“This is really just family building for us,” said Zach Nay. “We only accepted these children because it felt like they really belonged to us. We had a great experience with our internships.”

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