THE FOSTER CARE COUNCIL OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WAS FOUNDED BY THE UNSURPASSED DEDICATION OF CHILD ADVOCATES STAN APPELBAUM, DR. LES SCHULTZEL AND THE LATE LYNN SCHULTZEL IN 1999 AND RECEIVED 501 (C) (3) DESIGNATION IN 2000.

The FCC operates with two part-time staff members, to ensure that overhead remains as low as possible, and shares an office and operating expenses with another nonprofit organization, The Ricky King Children's Fund. Th e Board of Directors leads volunteers working on various committ ees that execute the organization's programs.

The President and Co-Founder of the FCC is Mr. Stanley Appelbaum. Mr. Appelbaum was a foster child and has also been a foster parent, thus experiencing the full range of the foster care system. He understands the depths of depression that accompany such a turbulent childhood. After decades as a successful businessman, Mr. Appelbaum has dedicated himself to volunteering and advocating for children. He currently serves on the Florida Advocacy Council for Mental Health (a governor appointed post), the Family Services Planning Team of Lee and Collier Counties, the Citizens Foster Care Review Board, the Florida Gulf Coast University Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research and is a member of the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Advisory Board. Mr. Appelbaum has also been a Guardian Ad Litem in the State of Florida for more than six years.

The Needs Committee is by far the backbone of the FCC under the direction of Needs Committee Chairperson, Willie West. The function of the Needs Committee is to distribute the money collected from various sources to our beneficiaries, the children in the foster care system in Southwest Florida. Mrs. West manages more than twenty volunteers that work diligently to get the most "bang" for their buck. Th at is, they shop carefully for items requested, and they approach vendors to see if discounts can be obtained or items donated. With this att itude, they have been able to negotiate signifi cant reductions in summer camps, clothing, music and recreational lessons, etc. As a group, they have logged more than 9,000 volunteer hours in the last year.