Couple hosts holiday parties for foster youth
Jan and Ian Teague, of Palos Verdes Estates, join Santa Claus (Torrance Mayor Pat Furey) and his elves Janice Petrosino, Michelle Rand and Celeste Crandell in handing out toys to kids at the Salvation Army in Torrance last Saturday. Photo by Tony LaBruno
A young boy approached Peninsula resident Jan Teague at a holiday party she and her husband Ian threw at the Torrance Salvation Army on Saturday afternoon, eyes wide.
“This little guy came up to me and he said, ‘Is all that food for us?’ And when I told him yes, he looks at the food, and he sees a big plate of brownies. And he goes ‘I love brownies,’” Jan recalled with a laugh.
The Torrance event was one of three that the Teagues hold every year for foster youth in Los Angeles County, part of a partnership with the county’s Department of Children and Family Services, and a tradition the Teagues have upheld for two decades. The Teagues got the idea years ago after attending a party for foster youth on Christmas Eve with fellow Palos Verdes philanthropists Melanie and Richard Lundquist. The party took place at a county facility where youth stayed while waiting for placement.
So she and her husband decided to start throwing parties of their own. Along with the Torrance event, they give one in Long Beach and one in Montebello. Unlike other holiday gift giving campaigns, in which presents are bought en masse and set out for children to choose, children at the Teagues’ parties tell a social worker what they want in advance. The Teagues and a few social workers go to a toy store, pick them out and wrap the toys. Then, when the children arrive at the party, they each have gifts to open.
“What we’ve learned is that the kids just really like that wrapped gift,” Jan said.
Jan, who has a degree in psychology, spent years working in the LAUSD and volunteering on the county’s Commission on Children and Families. Her service has given her an appreciation both of just how much the gifts mean to the children, and the challenges faced by county social workers. The social workers who help with the party do so on a volunteer basis and, in gratitude, the Teagues hold a holiday brunch for them.
Food plays a big part at the parties, which are extensively catered. Since some of the children struggle to find enough to eat, the Teagues make sure that there is always extra food that the children can take home. On Saturday, with Torrance Mayor Pat Furey playing Santa Claus, one child was worried there wouldn’t be enough treats, but Jan did her best to reassure him.
“This other little boy goes, ‘But Santa is going to take all those cookies.’ I told him, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Santa,’” she said.