December 2021 THE CHARBONNEAU VILLAGER 15
Boys & Girls Aid
By MARGIE WIESENTHAL
Bring unwrapped gifts to the December lunch
Adam woke up on Dec . 20 , looked at the ceiling and sighed . “ Oh well , this is the beginning of the Christmas break at school , big deal !
WIESENTHAL
All the other kids are having a great holiday from school , but not me .”
Adam is 14 in foster care . He thought his foster family was pretty good but that they didn ’ t really understand him . At age 14 he really wanted to be cool like the other boys at school , but it wasn ’ t working . He liked school pretty well and was good
COURTESY PHOTO
Members of the Rotary Club of Wilsonville blew up basketballs to give to the children . at math . Reading was difficult because he was dyslexic . His teacher for reading tried to help him , but was not very successfully . He should have been in a special education class for reading but the school district didn ’ t have the money for it , so he was in a regular class . Girls ! They all thought he was really weird ! Well , he was ! Who wouldn ’ t be if they were in his place ?
Christmas was coming and he was sure there would not be much for him to enjoy . Both foster parents were working outside the home so , during the days of no school , he went to a place run by Boys and Girls Aid of Portland . There , the boys were cared for by a big , tall , young man who played games , indoor and outdoor with them . There was a computer room , pool table , basketball court , library ( which he didn ’ t use ), a card game and puzzles room . The other boys were quite a bit like him and they talked a lot with the counselors about how they felt and how to handle anger and disagreements . Well , he had to admit , that part of his life was pretty cool .
Actually , Adam didn ’ t realize that he had it very good in comparison to where many other boys his age were . He was in a pretty good foster home . Some boys he knew were living in cars , some on the streets .
Back to Dec . 19 . Adam was taken by his foster mom to the Boys and Girls Aid place so that she could go to work . When he arrived , he discovered that there was a party . Not just for him , but for all 30 of the
See AID / Page 16