In April Forestdale celebrated its third Annual Benefit at the Jerome Green Space in downtown Manhattan. The event—sponsored by J.J Burns & Company, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Citibank, and Winget, Spadafora & Schwartzberg, LLP—raised over $53,000 for the Forestdale Scholars Program.

Adam B. Eggers has rejoined Forestdale as our Senior Program Administrator. In this role, he will oversee implementation and evaluation of privately-funded initiatives including Solution Based Casework, personal financial counseling and career development services for youth in foster care.

Forestdale staff work with teens and fathers on increasing their financial knowledge.

On Friday, January 25, Forestdale’s Youth Development Department presented our first Winter Festival, with parents and staff gathering for an evening showcase by our talented youth.

The funding will help to provide 50 Forestdale youth with career exploration workshops, job skills training and structured internships.

Forestdale was filled with Thanksgiving festivities all week! Our friends at St. John’s University donated a car full of food to Forestdale this holiday. Municipal Credit Union provided the turkeys, while the sororities from St. John’s baked delicious pies. Thank you to all those who helped make this Thanksgiving one to be grateful for!

This past weekend JetBlue Airways, one of Forestdale’s major corporate sponsors, treated our youth to a trip up to the University of Vermont for a college tour. The University and UVM tour guide Alex rolled out the red carpet for the youth, showing them around the beautiful campus located in Burlington, VT. Forestdale youth had dinner in the UVM cafeteria, saw the ALANA Student Center (ASC) and met with administration officials from Financial Aid.

Forestdale sends our thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by Super Storm Sandy. Many people in the New York area, including many Forestdale families and staff, continue to be dramatically impacted by the aftermath of the storm. However, Forestdale showed our resilience and took some time to enjoy the Fall season last Wednesday, October 31.

Forestdale’s Fathering Initiative alumni and volunteer Xavier Arthur was recently recognized for his volunteer work mentoring fathers at Forestdale. Queens Courier named him a “Star of Queens.”

Congratulations Xavier!

Over 300 fathers and significant male caregivers from Forestdale’s Fathering Initiative spent the morning with their children by bringing them safely to school. Participating locations included PS 147, IS/PS 266, IS 59, Preparatory Academy, PS 208 with All Pro Dads, and Quick Start Head Start Day Care.