Last week I took 24 senior adults to Connie Maxwell Children’s Home in Greenwood, SC.

For the past 25 years, we have provided a spring picnic for the 65-70 children who live there.

What a great blessing, both for the kids and us!

We have always been taught that the basic necessities for life are food, shelter and clothing.

But for children, there are more than just 3 basic needs.

Every child needs to belong to a family.

They all need love, personal attention, encouragement and discipline.

Most of us grew up with these needs being met.

But life can be a tremendous challenge for children whose parents are not there.

Organizations must intervene when there are no relatives who will step in.

Some children have lost their parents to death.

Some have been abandoned by one or both parents.

Some have been abused or neglected and were rescued by being placed in temporary foster homes.

In SC, about 4,600 children are living in foster care on any given day.

Foster care is the frontline of immediate help for children whose home environment has become untenable or unsafe.

But there are only about 2,800 SC foster families.

If you are interested in becoming a foster parent, here are a few starting points to contact.

Bethany Christian Services is a well-known organization serving in 30 states.

They have an office in Columbia.

You may also contact AdoptUSkids.org which is a national project with a SC Chapter.

Consider financially supporting or getting more personally involved with a children’s home.

Connie Maxwell Children’s Home is under the SC Baptist Convention.

They have campuses in Greenwood, Mauldin, Orangeburg, Florence and Chesterfield.

The Epworth Children’s Home is under the United

Methodist Church and is located in Columbia.

Here in Lexington, we can support Chris Meyers Place and Samaritan’s Well, which are transitional housing for women and children.

Both of these are operated by Christ Central Ministries, Inc.

Every kid deserves a home.

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Dan Williams is the senior adult pastor at Lexington Baptist Church.