ShareFest Volunteers Spruce Up Foster Care Community

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By Rudabeh Shahbazi

Summary

Last year, a non-profit signed on to get the foster care homes up and running, and today 150 volunteers made sure the kids will have a pleasant stay.

Story Published: Apr 20, 2008 at 6:02 PM PST

MESA-- More than two dozen Tri-Cities churches came together to lend a hand for ShareFest Saturday.

One of the biggest projects was at the Bailie Youth Ranch, a foster care community that was once a boys home. The ranch was once so run down, it was uninhabitable.

Last year, a non-profit signed on to get the foster care homes up and running, and today 150 volunteers made sure the kids will have a pleasant stay.

"What's beautiful about this place, is that it's a community, so all the parents work together," said John Scheline, who is a foster parent. "So to be able to be a part of something like that, is a huge deal."

"It's been so exciting to see lives change and to give kids a chance to be beneficial to society," said Ryan Krueger, who manages the ranch and is also a foster parent. "It's been great."

There are six foster homes in the community, but until Saturday, two of them were so run down, no one could live in them.