When 11-year-old Isabella Glazer wanted to find other children also being raised by their grandparents, her Internet search turned up empty. No networking group for kids in her situation existed.
Isabella changed that.
Four years ago, Isabella and her little sister, Gabriella, 10, started Bella’s Group, a nonprofit organization with the purpose of providing parties and a fun environment for children being raised by relatives other than their parents. With an estimated 35,000 children in Broward County living in similar circumstances, these free parties also bring guardians together to share and receive support while the children play. In addition, Bella’s Group now coordinates with other nonprofit groups like ChildNet and Kids in Distress, so they can join in the fun as well.
“I thought I was the only one being raised by my grandparents, but I found out so many were,” Isabella said. “We decided to start a group where we could all have fun.”
Bella’s Group is part of Forever Family, a nonprofit organization devoted to finding children in foster care permanent homes, and because Isabella and Gabriella know how lucky they are to have had their grandparents adopt them, they wanted to do even more. Now, the girls also make Bella’s Bags to give out to foster children. The bags contain essentials like toothbrushes and toothpaste and goodies like teddy bears, coloring books and crayons.
“It feels good to help because other people get to experience all these good things we get to experience,” Gabriella said.
“People at ChildNet said the kids were really happy,” Isabella added.
To date, Bella’s Group has donated 100 bags to children in foster care. They receive donations from people in the community, and the girls said a club at Nativity Catholic School in Hollywood – the school the girls have attended since pre-school – help decorate the bags for the children. Gabriella and Isabella also recently donated back-to-school backpacks to children at Kids in Distress, and they encourage children and adults to donate canned goods to the Pantry of Broward, a program devoted to feeding seniors.
“I’m so proud of them,” said Marietta Glazer, who along with her husband, Ira, adopted Isabella and Gabriella after a lengthy process two years ago. “They get an awful lot out of what they’re doing.”
The nonprofit organization hosts four free parties a year, ranging in location from animal shelters where the kids can play with puppies to bowling alleys and swimming pools, and while the children interact and play, Marietta said they offer information for the guardians regarding legal aid, nutritional classes and preventing abuse. The last party Bella’s Group hosted attracted more than 100 people, and the group recently partnered with the Boys & Girls Club for an event in August.
“These children have been through so much,” Marietta said. “It is wonderful to have someone to guide our families to local resources and help them develop strategies to support the children through life pressures and changes. We think if we give grandparents the same resources we give foster parents, the kids could stay in their families. We just need to give them a little support.”
For more information about Bella’s Group and its parties, visit http://foreverfamily.org/BellasGroup.html.
