Bob Gilbert and his wife were raising a family. But they had friends who fostered and adopted children, and decided to give foster care a chance.
Gilbert said he's an engineer and can do the math. There was room for one more in the house.
"We had room in the house," Gilbert said. "We had room in our hearts as well. God has filled our lives with a lot of joy. And our cup overflowed to where we felt we had enough to give -- in our hearts."
They also felt like they had abilities, having raised three children. So, they decided they could open up the house to one more. That's when the world changed a little bit.
"We had the room, but we needed help," Gilbert said. "We found out kids from hard places need special care. The kind of care that maybe parents who have raised their own children don't exactly know until you're there."
His family was reliant on three nonprofit agencies to care for the girls, Gilbert said -- Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association (CMFCAA) Rape and Abuse Crisis Service (RACS) and Capital City Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). Speaking in front of about 300 people Wednesday night at the inaugural United Way of Central Missouri community campaign launch cocktail party, he told community leaders it was their generosity that made the girls' adoptions possible.
United Way of Central Missouri serves Camden, Cole, Maries, Miller, Moniteau, Morgan, Osage, Phelps and southern Callaway Counties.
The first girl the Gilberts fostered, at 6, was in her fifth foster home.
The family ended up fostering and adopting two girls. The second came to them as a newborn (at 4 months).
The Gilberts fostered the 6-year-old for four months, but then her birth parents got her back.
Afterward, the newborn came available, and they agreed to accept her. About three weeks after receiving the younger child, the 6-year-old returned to foster care, and the Gilberts were asked if they would take her again. The state checked with the Gilberts because they had fostered her before.
"That's God's plan, I guess," Gilbert said. "We had that decision to make. We knew we only wanted one extra, but we'd also developed a bond with the older one."
It wasn't their plan, but the Gilberts realized they had only one choice -- to take them both in.
RACS has specialized child therapy care and counseling services their family needed.
"When our family realized some of the histories and abuse and neglect of one of our foster kiddos, we looked for counseling that we couldn't necessarily provide without training ourselves," Gilbert said. "We were hooked up through CMFCAA. They told us about RACS and we called."
RACS Executive Director Angela Hirsch said people don't understand the breadth of services her organization provides. It serves women, children and men who are victims of any kind of abuse.
"We have a licensed clinical therapist on staff who specializes in childhood trauma," Hirsch said. "She works with all of our littles -- children who have experienced physical, sexual, emotional abuse and who have witnessed abuse in their home."
RACS, she continued, are doing awareness work to be certain people understand the full scope of services it offers.
"One of the biggest misconceptions about our agency is people think we're a shelter," she said. "And that's all we do. And there is so much more to what we do."
The shelter is a very small piece of what RACS does. And, not everyone who comes to RACS is an adult.
"Our work is to make sure -- with children who have experienced trauma -- that they are in a safe space where they can explore that trauma, heal from that trauma, and not carry that with them through adulthood," Hirsch said.
During the launch party, the United Way gives awards for some of the early fundraising conducted for its annual campaign. The campaign begins with "pacesetters," which are about 30 companies that get a head start on fundraising each year to help inspire employees from other companies to reach goals. Each year, pacesetters are responsible for raising pledges of about half of the campaign goal.
When organizers say pacesetters raise about half, it's true the funds are about half of the goal. But, it never really quite reaches half -- until this year.
The goal for this year's campaign is $2.3 million. Pacesetters raised pledges for $1,162,172 (50.5 percent of the goal).
Campaign co-chairs Cassandra Atchison and Kyle Shimmens announced totals for each of the pacesetters.
For example, Jefferson City employees pledged (or donated) $18,484; Cole County employees, $15,460; Missouri Farm Bureau, $56,291; and Capital Region Medical Center (CRMC), 51,512. There were more than 30 pacesetters this year.
Staff at CRMC had set a goal of raising 38,000 this year, said Alaina Winship, marketing strategist.
"We decided and conquered. We had a physician on our committee that helped us with those mid-staff meetings and getting in touch with the doctors," Winship said. "Trying to get everything together ... with raffles and all kinds of stuff. Also, our graphic designer on our team designed a shirt with "Sweeter together" and our logo on it."
People loved the shirts.
"(United Way President Ann Bax) often comes and talks to us," she said. "We had a virtual town hall. It's so hard with so many people, so many facilities, so many shifts, that we really pushed that giving."
Andy Fechtel, United Way of Central Missouri Board Chairman, makes opening remarks at the United Way Community Campaign Launch Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022, at Capital Bluffs in Jefferson City. (Ken Barnes/News Tribune photo)
Willie Wonka and Violet, aka Kyle Shimmens and Cassandra Atchison, welcome everyone to the United Way of Central Missouri Community Campaign Launch at Capital Bluffs Wednesday evening, Aug. 31, 2022. (Ken Barnes/News Tribune photo)