This time of year can bring stressful times for children who endure traumatic experiences.

As we approach the end of the year and with the holidays of celebration occurring, OICA is once again assisting Oklahoma Human Services (OHS) with their Holiday Hope program to provide support for foster youth in the state. Our goal, which was requested of us by OHS, is to raise $30,000 enough to provide $150 gift cards to 200 teens in foster care.

As of Monday, Dec. 15, we have only raised about one-fourth of the amount needed to complete this mission. While this will certainly help those young people who will receive a card, I hate that we have not achieved our goal and might not reach it before the deadline next week. If you would like to help with this mission, please consider donating any amount to help us fulfill our mission.

OICA has created a link for individuals to directly donate to the program. The donation page is found at https:// tinyurl.com/2026HolidayHope. We also have the link on our social media accounts. With full transparency, OICA has factored the processing fee for each card into the donation amount to ensure all needs are met at a level of ten percent to cover expenses and our costs to complete this project.

This holiday season, you have the power to show a young person in foster care that they are seen, valued, and deserve joy. These are youth who often feel overlooked during a time of year that celebrates family, warmth, and belonging, and their foster families are overwhelmed with the costs associated with caring for these youth. Your support helps ease this burden.

By doing gift cards, these will give Oklahoma’s foster teens a chance to choose something for themselves, to experience independence, and feel the excitement every young person should during the holidays. Together, we can make sure no young person in foster care feels forgotten. Your support can turn a simple gesture into a lasting message for them: you matter.

If you are unable to help, we certainly understand how difficult finances are for many during this time of year. If you provide support for a different youth-related mission, we are grateful for what you do and wish you the happiest of holidays with your loved ones.

I want to close this week with another special request. Just about eight years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Miller Hines through his mother, Miranda, who was working for OICA as the director of our OK Foster Wishes program and who operated our special projects. Miller was a typical young boy who enjoyed all the activities which boys do. I will never forget the phone call from his mother as we were preparing for a conference that they had to rush Miller to the hospital and found out he had been diagnosed with leukemia.

In the years since, Miller has been a champion through his health battles, ranging from extended periods in the hospital to being able to participate in sports in his school during healthier periods. I have watched over that time as he has often struggled to live the normal life in which we all hope children will be able to experience. He has even developed a large following of supporters who hoped that #MightyMiller would be able to stay in remission and grow into adulthood.

Miller had to enter the hospital this past week, and the news has not been good. His 15th birthday will be Saturday, and he wants to not only be able to celebrate this special day, but he also really wants to be able to watch the University of Oklahoma football game on Friday night and for his team to bring home a win. If you believe in prayer, please reserve one for Miller as he goes through his health battle.

-The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy was established in 1983 by a group of citizens seeking to create a strong advocacy network that would provide a voice for the needs of children and youth in Oklahoma, particularly those in the state’s care and those growing up amid poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, disparities, or other situations that put their lives and future at risk. Our mission statement: “Creating awareness, taking action and changing policy to improve the health, safety, and well-being of Oklahoma’s children.