PARMA, Idaho — According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, there are at least 1,300 Idaho kids in the foster care system. Children in foster care don't always get to experience the same things as other kids, so two Eagle teens are trying to change that.
Megan Williams, 18, and her brother Quinn, 16, used to be in the foster system. They went through nine homes and say the experience foster kids go through can be lonely and not easy.
“Kids are jumping from home to home to home trying to find a family, trying to get adopted," Quinn said.
Now, the siblings' organization, called Foster to Foster, started a movie festival at the drive-in theater in Parma, all to raise money to help support Idaho foster children.
“These children don’t have families and so they don’t know what it is to belong or to feel like they fit in with the community," Megan said.
The goal for the festival is to raise enough money to eventually buy a 15-passenger van to take foster kids on field trips and adventures.
“I want to take these kids out of the system and I want to take them camping so they can sit by a campfire, sleep in a tent, make s'mores," Quinn said. "I want to take them to McCall so they can learn how to jet ski, go on a boat, fish, have fun. Take them to Boise State games and let them experience watching football.”
“We’re giving them a chance to experience something they don’t normally get to experience," Megan said.
Individual donations from those who came on Friday night ranged from a few dollars to $50.
Each donation helps fund a lasting memory for a foster child.
“Because I was in the system, I want to help kids in the system who are older now but still don’t get to go and have fun," Quinn said. "They deserve to have fun.”
The goal for this weekend is to bring in at least $1,000.
From there, Megan and Quinn plan on continuing holding fundraisers to pay for the van and other activities to help as many kids as possible.
The movie weekend continues Saturday night, starting at 6 p.m. Admission is free, and they're raising all their money through donations.