Krause Children's Center

Following is a personal story of a recent adoption, as told through the eyes and hearts of the mom and dad (Scott and Carol Cook) and their 11-year old son, Ke’onte. The LSS adoption recruiter for Wendy’s Wonderful Kids™(WWK) in the Metroplex, LaMeaka Tapley, coordinated the adoption match.

Ke’onte tells his side:

At first you start out in a foster home like me. Then, you feel like you won’t get picked. I’ve been through all this stuff, and I’ll tell you about it….

My mom did something she wasn’t supposed to do. Then, there were police, which made me really scared. Next thing I knew, I was at an adoption headquarters place. I remember feeling just blank. Then, some driver picked me up and took me to my first foster home, which I liked okay. The next foster home was very fun, and I thought I felt happy. The foster home after that, I really didn’t like because I didn’t feel like I belonged. But soon, Carol and Scott invited me over to their house to spend a weekend with them. I was eager to know them. I really liked them because they were very nice. The next thing I know, “I’M ADOPTED!!!” During the next six months, I felt a lot of anxiety because I didn’t know if they would really like me and want to keep me. I found out later that they felt the same way about me, wondering if I was going to really like them! And by the way, I DID! Now, I’m in a loving home forEVER and EVER and protected. I have parents, two dogs, and two cats, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents (five of those!) and a best friend named Kyle. Now, I feel happy because I feel like I belong again to a family. Adoption is…awesome!

Ke’onte Markeith Jones Cook

And now the Cooks tell theirs:

We were looking for a little girl, but we prayed for the child God wanted for us to care for only. When our caseworker sent us a video clip of Ke’onte, which she received from WWK recruiter LaMeaka Tapley, she asked us to “just watch it and pray about him,” we knew there was something special about him and his story. We knew Ke’onte needed a home with a family who would not give up on him; but we also knew WE needed to be needed by someone. He tried his hardest to make us turn him away, to return him during his first three months, including trying to break down our front door (without actual success), break-dancing on his principal’s desk, and repeatedly asking us why we wanted him. But we wouldn’t give up.

Six months later, he is a completely different child. He is learning to trust more and more every day, and his anxieties and uncertainties have melted away almost completely. Now that the adoption is final and he had the support of his extended family there in the courtroom while the three of us were sworn in, Ke’onte has realized he finally belongs to a family who will love, respect, laugh, and support him forever.

To help commemorate our adoption, the three of us went that same day and adopted a kitten, named Boo, together from the Farmers Branch Animal Shelter. Ke’onte continuously amazes us by showing more and more compassion for others and animals. Currently, Ke’onte is planning to go to college to work with animals, hoping even to work with orca whales. He also won two first-place medals at a tae kwon do tournament in March, and received Exemplary on his reading and science portions of his TEKS test.

Proud parents,

Scott & Carol Cook

A dream of a lifetime came true for Jessica Burris of Frelsburg, TX, last Sunday afternoon.  Jessica, who is mentally handicapped, threw out the first pitch at  Minute Maid Park before the Houston Astros vs. St. Louis Cardinals game ending the first half of the 2010 Major League Baseball campaign. Jessica’s major league debut was part of LSS Day with the Astros, our annual fundraiser at the big diamond in downtown Houston. Unfortunately, the home team lost, 4-2.

Members of the Frelsburg Trinity Lutheran Church, a small, country church near Columbus, earned the right for Jessica to throw out the first pitch by raising more money for the Krause Children’s Center in Katy, TX, than any other Houston-area church.

“Pastor Mosely made the suggestion and people just got behind it,” said Greg, Jessica’s father.

Trinity Lutheran in Frelsburg raised more than $4,000 for the cause.  What the other churches who participated in the quest didn’t have, was a lifelong Astros fan with a dream – like Jessica, on their team.

“Jessica is the biggest Astros fan in the Columbus area,” continued her father. “She knows every player on the roster by their number. I have to print out a new roster every time they make a change to it.”

Determined to send her to toe the rubber on top of the mound at Minute Maid, Jessica served as a true inspiration to her church members.

“Everybody came out for Jessica. It was just amazing. We had a bake sale that sold out in two hours and people just kept giving.”

Jessica is no stranger to athletics being a regular participant in the Special Olympics where she competes in bowling, the 50-meter dash, and the softball toss – perhaps foreshadowing her call to the bigs and a trip to the mound. She can now count an autographed ball she used to fire the first pitch at an Astros game among her collection of medals.

“She’s pretty proud of that ball,” continued Greg. She’s been going around telling everybody, ‘I got to throw out the first pitch.’”

We’re proud of you too, Jessica.

The Krause Children’s Center is home for 60 boys and girls in the Texas foster care system between the ages of 11-17 who have been physically, emotionally and sexually abused and neglected.  Krause is partially funded by the state of Texas. Remaining funds to cover operating costs of the 24/7/365 facility must be raised through private donations and events like LSS Day with the Astros. LSS would like to thank all the church members who participated in this year’s event for helping the boys and girls at Krause!

That phrase was poached from Marc Pitman, founder of FundraisingCoach.com, a website dedicated to practical ideas for fundraising more effectively. He has a point! Fundraising is not for the faint of heart. Asking for money is kind of scary. It means regular exposure to the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. While there can be triumphs of the human spirit, there are also a few crash landings along the way.

The consistently high quality services LSS strives to provide to children, the elderly, and others in need would not be possible if we weren’t able to conduct successful, ongoing fundraisers.

At LSS, the extreme fundraising athletes are called the Agency Advancement Team*. Led by senior vp David Kahle and vp for community/church relations Dan Zieschang, this group covers the territory of Texas meeting with donors and choreographing a series of annual events and benefits: “Make a Difference” in Austin, “Celebre La Buena Vida” in El Paso, “Caring for Kids” in Denton, “Spring Fling” in Lubbock, and “Change a Life at Bokenkamp” in Corpus Christi. Plus “Tomorrow’s Child” golf benefits in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Denton.

What drives these risk-takers? A great cause … the ministries of Lutheran Social Services, providing help, healing, and hope to seniors, those in financial need, and children in foster care and residential treatment centers.Please say a little prayer for David, Dan, and their team … for many safe and successful landings in the future!

*David and Dan are ably assisted by Kristy McKinney, Karen Bernstein, Delores Neutzler, Diane Covert, Susan Rang, Karen Kracht, Nicole Griesse, and grant writers Cecelia Blanford and Flo Shaw.

Friday, May 21^st was “A Night to Remember” at Krause Children’s Center in Katy. And that just happened to be the theme for what was hands-down the best prom ever held at Krause. It could have been the best prom in Katy―or in Texas, for all we know…

Thanks to the Katy Chamber of Commerce for going all out to make the evening extra special. Under the leadership of Ann Hodge, they were the instigators of the “prom dress flood” that made pre-prom almost as exciting as the actual event. Thanks to the MANY volunteers who devoted their time and hearts to everything from making alterations to creating beautiful hairdos. Thanks to the Krause staff who chaperoned, helped set up, and filled in where needed – all labors of love on their own time.

There were food stations in abundance. There was a six-tier chocolate fountain with possibly the world’s biggest strawberries. There was music that made it impossible for anyone and everyone to keep their feet still. There was a red carpet, befitting royalty and residents alike. There were decorations that transformed the gymnasium into a sparkling, star-filled night club.

Tawana Goodwin, Krause director of volunteer services, is still reeling from the overwhelming response from the community. Tawana summed it up: “We are all still talking and smiling about ‘THE BEST PROM EVER’ at Krause! Special thanks to the Katy Chamber of Commerce, our sponsors, the donors, volunteers, barbers, make-up artist, florist, decorators, salon stylist, and the COMMUNITY that donated 603 dresses to start the Krause Prom Closet.”

This is not the first year Krause has had a prom. But this prom is certainly shaping up to be the most memorable.

It was the Katy Chamber of Commerce that really got the ball rolling. Chamber CEO and president Ann Hodge was determined to help the kids at Krause Children’s Center have “A Night to Remember” ―which just happens to be the theme of the prom this Friday, May 21^st.

So the Katy Chamber successfully collected more than 80 dresses for the 50 Krause girls, and arranged to rent tuxes for the guys. Then they started collecting shoes (no plastic flip-flops for this prom!) and are paying for the DJ and corsages.

Tawana Goodwin, Krause director of volunteer services, felt the momentum and volunteer energy building, and ran with it, emailing other schools and service groups. There has been an overwhelming response from Krause staff members who are volunteering to help chaperone and fill in where needed.

Absolutely! Magazine has stepped up to provide the food and HCTV-worthy decorations.

On Monday, Krause friends from the Monarch School came by to donate 60 dresses, which they collected in one week!

And the list goes on:

· One volunteer mentor shopped online to gather 50 prom dresses

· Nine volunteers are on board for hairstyling

· Thursday night the National Charity League, Azalea Chapter is having a “Shoe and toe Party” ― an assembly line of pedicures

· Seven Lakes High School collected money for the tuxedoes

And the Dress Total Hits …

Perhaps most extraordinary, is how the word spread and the prom dresses kept rolling in: reaching a grand total by Monday night of (drum roll, fist bump) 500! After volunteers sorted the dresses by size, the 50 girls had 10 dresses each and piles of shoes to choose from, and Tawana Goodwin reports that the shopping frenzy Monday night was as much fun as it sounds.

This is only Chapter One of the Krause Prom story. Chapter Two will be the recap of “A Night to Remember.”

To quote Tawana, “This is what coming together as a community is all about!”

On Tuesday, May 18th, there was a frenzy of energy at Krause Children’s Center in Katy … BP Energy that is.

For the past five-plus years, BP Energy has partnered with Krause and supported the children there in many ways. But it’s the BP work days that have become legendary. BP employees bring tools, supplies, and major manpower, and take on projects from ditch-digging to window replacement and major landscaping overhauls. Some work days there can be 80 to100 BPers laboring throughout the Krause campus on five or six projects simultaneously.

The May 18^th BP crew took on the task of renovating the courtyard, preparing the soil, laying pavers, and giving the area a facelift before the big upcoming Krause events – graduation and the PROM.

P.S. BP has been our title sponsor for the “Tomorrow’s Child” Krause Golf Tournament for four years. The next tournament is coming up Monday, June 7th at Houston’s Pine Forest Country Club.

Thanks to the Katy Chamber of Commerce, there are now enough sequins, beads, and ruffles in the Krause Children’s Center prom closet to clothe all the models on an episode of Project Runway. But these dresses have another destination: they have been donated for the teen girls at Krause to wear for their prom, “A Night to Remember” on May 21^st.

There are now about 80 dresses, donated by the community and gathered by the chamber. There will be a growing inventory and “perpetual prom closet” at Krause for future proms, and tuxedoes are being rented for the guys.

Pictured is Lori Gunn with Krause. (No relation to Tim.)

For most of the 50 girls, this will be the first chance they’ve had to get their sparkle on, according to Tawana Goodwin, Krause director of volunteers. The chamber is also collecting shoes and money for corsages. On prom day they will get their hair and makeup done, along with manis and pedis. “This kind of pampering is an all-new experience for them, believe me,” said Goodwin, who is almost as excited as the kids. When the kids make their red-carpet entrance, “A Night to Remember” will also be their night to shine.

Catch the write-up in Ultimate Katy.