This past Thursday, November 17th, JAFCO’s Aventura Chapter held a “Chanukah Miracles Luncheon” as it has done in years past. The event, which started at 11:00 am at the JW Marriott Turnberry Resort & Spa, featured original art auctioned off to raise money for JAFCO’s exceptional programming.

JAFCO, an acronym for “Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options,” was founded in 1992, and has since offered support to Jewish children in foster care, adoption, and beyond. In their own words: “JAFCO’s mission is to provide care, safety, and support to children and their families within the Jewish community and beyond who are impacted by abuse, neglect, trauma, or developmental disabilities…giving every child a place to belong.”

Jonathon Shetrit, a beneficiary of JAFCO’s programs, commented: “Nobody wants to be placed in a situation where they might need foster care. JAFCO is one of the best places you could go to (at least in the State of Florida) for foster care. Most foster homes are not the greatest. Many are run down and kids get in a lot of trouble. There are a select few places that are nice – among them JAFCO.”

Jonathon attributes JAFCO’s success to “a community that cares.” While many foster homes are less than ideal, JAFCO makes sure that children growing up in their homes have a bright path ahead of them. “The people they hire, as well as the people who donate, want to see children who succeed in the future.” 

When asked how others can help donate or offer assistance to the organization, Jonathon responded: “JAFCO does more than just foster care. Along with the group homes, JAFCO has an emergency shelter that takes in children who don’t have a home.” He continued, “They also have an ability center, which takes care of disabled children with special needs/autism.”

Over the past few years, JAFCO has branched out with programs focused on mental health. “They have another program called Eagle’s Haven, which deals with therapy alone. It was opened right after the Stoneman Douglas shooting. In the program, they helped handle a lot of therapy cases from students in that school.” He concluded by talking about how donations can help teens our age: “JAFCO runs programs to help support teenagers in foster care, out of foster care, and all around the community. JAFCO provides for education, housing, clothes, food, and tons of other amenities through the help of donations.”

Following the luncheon, Anoushka Faith, daughter of Lauren Faith (the luncheon co-chair), commented: “I went to the event, which had a silent auction full of different things you could buy. The painting that I made for the auction took me about three months to complete and was sold for $1,000.” After being sold, Anoushka’s piece of artwork was donated back to JAFCO, where one woman commented that it was “the most beautiful piece of work ever donated to JAFCO.”

For those interested in supporting JAFCO through donations and/or community service, visit their website at https://www.jafco.org/.