HELPING HANDS | Keep Shining

Keep Shining

Light The Candle for Foster Kids

By Tara RyazanskyPhotos by Julia Guignard

Everyone deserves to have a happy birthday. Jordan Lacey, the CEO and founder of Light The Candle, came up with the concept for her organization when she was just a teenager.

“When I was 17 years old my cousins were adopted through foster care,” Lacey explains. “The thing that first opened my eyes to the foster care system was having these two new family members.” At the time, she was a high school student at Mater Dei Prep in Middletown, New Jersey. “Seeing how much my cousins’ lives changed moving in with my family and

getting that positive, loving environment it just sparked the question, ‘How many other children are out there who are like them, and what can I do to help these other kids?’ The biggest thing was just trying to figure out how can we make other kids who are in the foster care system smile.” Lacey came up with the idea of birthday cards.

Jordan Lacey

Julia Guignard

Jordan Lacey

Julia Guignard

Jordan Lacey

Julia Guignard

“Every child has a birthday,” Lacey says. “A lot of these children might not know their birth story, or they might now know their parents. They might not have anything unique with their name spelled out on it. That can be super special.” She started a group at her school. “It was the Light The Candle Club,” Lacey says. “It kind of spread like rapid fire to a nearby high school, to my dance team at the time, then we started talking to some Girl Scout groups, some Boy Scout groups, and some church groups.”

High School Mission

The club, along with volunteers, created personalized birthday cards for foster kids in group homes all over New Jersey and beyond. “They’re handmade custom cards,” says Lacey, adding that they are for foster kids ages 0-18, and 18-21 for special needs folks who age out of the foster system later. “We encourage all of our volunteers to really take your time on the cards. We ask them to take 30 minutes to an hour per card. We ask them to write a really sweet message in there, something super positive. We ask for quotes. We’ll give them directions, like for example, a girl is turning 15 and she likes gymnastics, so it’s something super special and curated to their interests.” She also pairs volunteers with foster kids in their same age range when possible. Lacey says, “It’s just so awesome to see that there’s someone who is a similar age to you and all they’re asking for is a simple card. Kids can be so creative when they’re making a card for another kid.”

When Lacey graduated from high school, she didn’t forget her mission. “I brought it with me to college at Johnson & Wales University,” she says. “Then, when I moved out post-grad to Hoboken, I was able to really spread this idea.” Now, Light The Candle has over 30 high school chapters.

More Than Cards

“I think that you’re never too young to make a difference. I empower my chapter presidents to make decisions for their chapters. I think it fosters leadership. It brings me back to how I was in high school,” Lacey says. She credits her involvement with the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) as an inspiration for her community involvement. “At first, when I was in high school I used to think maybe I would do this later in life, once I start working or once I had a family, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to do it then and now. The flick of one light can light a whole room.” Lacey aims to inspire young people. As a black woman, she hopes to inspire others as well. “As a female non-profit owner and also a black non-profit owner, I try to highlight that to make sure that other young women and other people of color know that you can do it too,” Lacey says. Lacey says that approximately 1000 kids have received birthday cards from Light The Candle. Now, the organization is expanding its mission. “We created a care closet at one of the foster homes down in southern New Jersey,” Lacey says. “It’s a closet inside one of the group homes where the foster

parents or social workers or even the foster kids themselves can come and pick out tampons, shampoo, diapers, a lot of items. We’re happy to be able to do more beyond the need of birthday cards.” You can help Light The Candle with its mission by donating or volunteering. More information can be found at welightthecandle.org or @welightthecandle on Instagram. “We would love more donations as we build out our care closets. We would love support. We have a goal to hopefully have them in all of the group homes that we provide cards to,” Lacey says. Volunteering can be a party too. “Some people want to do a birthday party. We’ve had children who want to donate or do a charitable effort for their birthday. They might fundraise, or they might make cards as their activity.” As for Lacey’s cousins, they are big fans of her work. “They love it. They’re our source of inspiration,” Lacey says. “This is a family organization as well. My mom is actively involved in it. My dad helps as well. My grandparents are involved too.” Lacey keeps the candle burning. “I chose the name Light The Candle because I think a child is like a candle,” Lacey says. “We always sign all of our cards ‘Keep Shining’ to encourage a child that their light will always shine bright no matter what situation that they’re in. We want them to know that we’re there for them. We’re their friend, their partner, and we want them to keep shining and to encourage them.”— 07030