3 Takeaways:

• Dozens of bicycles and scooters were donated to the Community compliments of The Foster Alliance.
• The nonprofit serves families and children enrolled in foster programs across Arizona.
• The SRPMIC and The Foster Alliance have shared an ongoing collaboration for half a decade. 

Here in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the 2025 holiday season got a bit sweeter thanks to some recent donations from a local nonprofit. 

The Foster Alliance provides support to Arizona children enrolled in foster care and the families who care for them. In 2024, the nonprofit served nearly 10,000 children in the state, which included distributing nearly 3,000 back-to-school backpacks. 

Furthermore, throughout the year the nonprofit provides foster families and children with essential services such as assistance with foster care licensing; the Birthday Dreams program, which helps celebrate birthdays with personalized gifts; as well as the annual toy drive for foster youth ages 0 to 21. 

On Dec. 10, staff from The Foster Alliance filled two of their travel vans with bicycles, scooters and helmets for SRPMIC foster children enrolled with SRPMIC Social Services.

Community staff greeted The Foster Alliance and began unloading both vans. They held the bicycles and scooters in one of the nearby department conference rooms before the Social Services team began handing them out to children.

“We brought 61 bikes and 14 scooters, all with helmets,” revealed Cierra Bos, director of finance and operations for The Foster Alliance. Bos was joined by her colleague, Shawn Pendergrast, director of programs, for the Community donation drop-off. 

“These bikes and scooters were donated or funded through some of our corporate groups,” shared Bos.  

She also detailed that The Foster Alliance and the SRPMIC have enjoyed a collaboration for the last five years. “We have an ongoing partnership,” said Bos with a cheerful smile.