ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Imagine growing up needing something but being too afraid to ask for it. Or never having a birthday present, cake or a party.

That is a reality for thousands of foster kids in Central Florida, but an Orlando-area nonprofit is expanding its reach and looking to make a difference. 

Sandi Wise and Alison Spalding were packing bags recently so they could be distributed to foster children with anything and everything they might need inside.

The pair said they try to include things the kids might want, but the main focus is on the things they’ll need.

“They have everything — they have lotion, they have lip balm and two toothbrushes, and soap and anything that you could imagine," Wise said. "And all the little things that you just need and are hard to ask for, so these are in every comfort bag."

Wise takes them to kids who are going through what can often be one of the most traumatic moments of their lives.

“Every foster child comes into care with nothing, and if they have anything, it’s in a grocery store bag," she said. "So the opportunity to provide them with a pillow and pillowcase and a toothbrush and nightlight, and just some comforting items — a blanket, that is the No. 1 things that kids want — and to be able to be give them that when they come to a new place, that gives them a sense of themselves."

Wise has worked as a Guardian ad Litem — a court appointed representative who acts as a child’s voice — for the last 14 years. She said in that role, she has come to understand what a lot of foster children go through.

Through that work, Wise connected with Spalding and her nonprofit, Fostering Kindness, which currently serves foster kids in Seminole, Orange, Volusia, Flagler, St. Johns and Osceola counties.

“She never tires of hearing a need for a kid," said Spalding, who founded Fostering Kindness. "She will give up hours, she will give up days, she will give up sleep. She does anything that is needed to make sure these kids feel safe and loved."

Wise not only delivers these bags to make sure the children's needs are met, but helps Spalding meet the kid’s emotional needs too.

“Most children in foster care come from families where they have never had a birthday party," Wise said. "So as we meet them and we take notes, when they talk about things and when they are with a group — and we are mostly in group homes with teenagers — you hear, ‘Oh, I wish I had this,’ ‘Oh, I need a curling iron,’ or whatever, I make notes, and then when their birthday comes, we can surprise them with the things that we know that they want and that they also need."

For the last three and half years, Spalding has run Fostering Kindness out of a storage unit with Wise’s help as a volunteer. But thanks to a recent $25,000 donation, they are moving into an office in Altamonte Springs that has given them the space they need to expand the program even beyond the six counties they now serve.

“This is Fostering Kindness in the beginning and you will watch us grow,” Wise said as she stocked shelves.

She said helping the kids gives her purpose.

“We need these children to feel good about themselves, and that is what we teach through fostering kindness," Wise said. "We teach them you are loved, you are enough, you are beautiful, you deserve watcher you need, whatever you want — that is my passion to make that possible for every child in foster care."

She said that is something she can do now even more because Spalding gifted her a key to their brand new office.

“Keys to the office — this is amazing," Wise said as she hugged Spalding. "I got keys to the office. Oh, thank you.”

For more information about Fostering Kindness, visit the organization's website.