About 2,000 foster parents were pampered Sunday in Culver City for a special Mother’s Day. Marin Austin reports for the NBC4 News at 6 on Sunday, May 08, 2016.
The so-called unsung heroes of Mother's Day, foster parents, were getting pampered in Culver City Sunday.
There were arts and crafts. There was dancing. There were makeovers and manicures and more.
"A lot of foster parents are unsung heroes. They don't get a lot of thanks. It's a very difficult position to be in," Jeanne Pritzker, who started the nonprofit Foster Care Counts, said.
She started the nonprofit eight years ago to make foster moms like Dionne Washington feel loved on Mother's Day.
"It works both ways. I struggled to have children," Washington said.
Washington works with foster children at LA Trade Technical College. One day, she got a call that one of her students was pregnant.
"Her mother ultimately had the baby and brings the baby to me," Washington said.
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Washington is now a single mom to 4-year-old Maya, and 2-year-old Amora. She was one of 2,500 recognized, appreciated and pampered this Mother's Day at the Willows Community School in Culver City.
They danced with LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas. They ate cotton candy and spun in circles.
The entire event was coordinated with 500 volunteers.
"Everyone really needs to feel love — that they're a part of something everyone," Christopher Pitcher, volunteer, said. "I have such an amazing family I want to make sure give that feeling to others."
