What started as a group of foster parents collecting used clothing items and storing stuff for each other in one family’s garage eventually turned into a local 501c3 nonprofit organization ― Foster Pantry.
The mission of Foster Pantry is to ease the transition of children in foster care in southeastern North Carolina.
Stacy Pullen was part of that group of foster moms who met monthly. Initially, she helped coordinate volunteer events to get the items organized and dropped off to the Department of Social Services.
As a member of the founding board of directors and treasurer, Pullen was involved in establishing the 501c3 and later transitioned to the board chair role.
“Foster care has been a part of my life since I can remember. My grandmother was a foster parent, my mom a foster sister. I remember the photos of the kids I had never met hanging on the wall and being told stories of them,” Pullen said.
Over the years, foster care would pop up many times in Pullen’s life. She lived in a kinship placement through her third-grade year and later became a kinship caregiver to her teenage sister. Eventually, she became a foster parent herself and adopted her daughter from foster care.