CHANDLER — A new Festival of Trees in Chandler is raising money to give hundreds of children in foster care a Thanksgiving dinner, ABC15 reported.
For the first time, 15 hand-decorated trees are on display at the Lavender Farm at Chateau de Vie to support the annual Kid Connection Thanksgiving, which the farm and MomDoc Charities have hosted since 2016 for kids living in group homes.
The dinner started with 100 children. This year, more than 430 are expected, according to the station.
“It’s really special to them even if they don’t really express it in words, you can tell they are just happy to be here,” said Shelly Goodman, founder of The Lavender Farm.
The festival runs Nov. 10-11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Nov. 12-14 from 3 to 7 p.m. A $20 ticket gets visitors in and sponsors one child’s Thanksgiving, and guests can bid to take a tree home at the end of the week.
Tree themes range from Disney to “Warm Winter Wishes” to a Chanel-inspired design. Donor Laura Newcomb said knowing the kids get one day “where they can come and be with families and have this meal” made her want to take part.
Ticket information is available on the Lavender Farm at Chateau de Vie’s website.
Sources: ABC15. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Knud Erik Larsen (Danish, 1865–1922) / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
