Checking out at a Dalton-area Walmart in 2012, Merinda McGill got a surprise hug from a young woman she hadn't seen in years.
McGill worked as a contractor for Georgia's Division of Family & Children Services for 11 years, and the now-young woman had briefly been in the state's and the Chatsworth resident's care in 2009. Because a suitable home couldn't be found, the girl was staying with McGill at a Murray County hotel on her 16th birthday.
"When she told me she had never had a birthday cake, party or anything, it was heart-wrenching to me," McGill said in a phone interview. So McGill took the girl to get her nails done, bought her a birthday cake and had the hotel staff get together to sing her "Happy Birthday" on a picnic table outside the Key West Inn in Chatsworth.
The birthday girl, McGill and hotel staff all cried that day, and the birthday girl told McGill years later in Walmart that the impromptu birthday party was a big turning point in her life. McGill said the young woman looked great, was doing well and working full time while training for a career at community college.
From that experience, McGill started the Gifted program as part of the nonprofit organization she founded called Angels at Heart. Founded in 2009, the organization once offered services such as rent and utility assistance as well as emergency shelter but pivoted to hosting birthday parties for at-risk and foster children last year.
"Coming out of the pandemic, we wanted to focus on something more positive," McGill said. "And we wanted to try to fill a gap, looking at what all the other agencies were doing versus what we could do to contribute. And the idea had been on my heart for a very long time."
Late last month, there were 86 children in Murray County's foster care system and about another 115 deemed at-risk by the state, county records show. According to state records from last week, Catoosa County has 152 children in foster care, Dade County has 19, Gordon County has 134, Walker County has 133 and Whitfield County has 131.
According to the Family & Children's Services website, more than 11,000 children are in the foster care system statewide.
Billy Childers is the Murray County tax commissioner and a member of the Angels at Heart board. He also raised money for the organization by raffling off an AR-15 rifle and organizing a Murray County version of "Dancing with the Stars."
He said too many children who end up in foster care have challenges in life once they grow up, and that's why it's important to show them people in their community do care.
"We let 'em know someone out there loves them," Childers said at a political fundraiser this past fall. "This is your day, your special day."
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During her contractor work with the state's foster care system, McGill said she saw the homes foster children are removed from often don't have food, and the children aren't getting the emotional support they need. When children are brought into foster care, McGill said they'd often be bounced from group homes to hotels until an appropriate home could be found.
An all-volunteer organization, McGill said Angels at Heart works with case managers to make those at-risk and foster care children's birthdays special. A one-page survey is submitted to learn the child's age, favorite color, what they like and anything else the case manager wants them to know. Gifts are given to younger children; gift cards to the older ones.
Birthday supplies are cheap, McGill said, and the most expensive part of the program are the cakes and gift cards. For at-risk children still in their homes, she said all the ingredients for a birthday cake are also packed in the gift bag.
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The volunteers host a special party for 16-year-olds, both because that's how the program started and the fact that 16 is such a turning point for children, McGill said.
Lavish birthday celebrations designed to impress people on social media have become the norm, but McGill said it's time to take a step back and realize how little some young people in the community really have. She said donations for the program can be made at the Angels at Heart website.
"It's not about the cake or decorations," McGill said. "It's like that girl said to me that day (in Walmart): It can change the trajectory of their life. It's making them feel seen -- like they matter."
Discussions have started to expand to other nearby counties, but right now the program is only for Murray County children. McGill said her 0rganization has seen good results from the program and wants to help as many children as possible.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.