Richland County Children Services honors foster parents with annual dinner

May 21, 2012

Richland County Children Services honored its 63 foster homes on Friday night with its annual Foster Parent Appreciation Dinner.

The dinner was at the Life Celebration Reception Center in downtown Mansfield with several agency board members and Richland County Commissioner Gary Utt in attendance. 

Nikki Harless, the agency’s interim Executive Director, welcomed the foster parents and other guests. Lori Feeney, program supervisor for the agency’s ProtectOHIO Division, led the presentation of awards to the foster families.

Each foster home received certificates for years of service and several milestone awards were presented, as well.

(Click here to see a photo gallery from the event.)

The keynote speaker for the evening was Raymond Lloyd, a child welfare expert with more than three decades of experience from Springfield, Ohio. He spoke on how foster parents can “best the stress” they face as caregivers and also reminded them how much their efforts are appreciated.

At the conclusion of the evening, each foster family received door prizes, including tickets to the Renaissance Theater, tickets to Cleveland Indians games, gift certificates to Wal-Mart, Cinemark and Red Lobster.

Also awarded was a one-night stay at the Angelwoods Bed & Breakfast, including dinner, and the floral arrangements on each table, provided by students from the Pioneer Career & Technology Center in Shelby.

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