On the first bitterly cold day of the season, the Mizzou Academy team loaded the Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association (CMFCAA) van with over 125 coats and a bundle of 25+ hats and gloves for children in mid-Missouri. Executive Director Kathryn Fishman-Weaver says she hopes “these items will help make spirits a little brighter and a lot warmer this season.” 

This month, Mizzou Academy led their second-annual winter-wear drive for CMFCAA and participated in a service project at Centro Para Crianças e Adolescentes (CCA) in São Paulo, SP.  Our Business Director, Tami Regan, helped coordinate these efforts. She says, “Mizzou Academy values all people throughout our worldwide community. This effort is fueled by our team’s drive to help those in need–whether we know them directly or not!” Like all those quoted in this article, Regan says she is “proud to be part of a team that prioritizes people and meets their needs wherever they are.”

Local Impact: Winter-Wear Drive for Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association

“Who gets new beds to kids in need in 48 hours?” Kathryn Fishman-Weaver asked the Mizzou Academy team, though the answer was already on the tip of her tongue: “Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association does, and has, for kids I love.” 

On its website, CMFCAA says: 

“We believe that every child deserves the love and support to thrive.” 

“At Mizzou Academy,” Fishman-Weaver says, “we share this belief.” She shared some of her personal connections to foster care, including her work as a court-appointed special advocate (CASA) for youth navigating care in Boone County. Through that work, Fishman-Weaver says she has “seen firsthand the direct positive impact CMFCAA has across 24 counties in central Missouri.” 

The Outreach and Partnership Manager, Courtney Beyer, added, “There is more work to do. In Missouri, there are nearly 12,000 children in foster care.” For the second year in a row, the Mizzou Academy team has supported this work by hosting a coat and winter-wear drive. Coat drives, like food drives, help multiply impact. Many of us can find a coat or two or even three, but when a group of forty or fifty people starts bringing in a few coats each, suddenly, there are enough warm items to help a small community. 

Global Connections: Mizzou Academy Visits Centro Para Crianças e Adolescentes (CCA) in São Paulo, SP

Before eating lunch, an entire room of children aged 6-14 stood and joyfully joined in a song that Elementary Coordinator Lisa DeCastro had never heard. She asked her four middle school lunch companions about it and learned it is called  “A Time of Joy.” DeCastro says, “This feeling captured the day.” The students DeCastro ate with that day have been coming to the Centro Para Crianças e Adolescentes (CCA) in São Paulo, SP since they were five years old. 

Founded in 1979, CCA has spent over forty years supporting under-resourced children and families in the Veleiros neighborhood. They offer essential services, care, educational programming, and two meals a day to the children they serve. They also offer adult literacy and professional courses. Their director explained that, ultimately, CCA strives to alleviate poverty and foster inclusion.

One of DeCastro’s favorite moments from this day was when the high school students made a tunnel with their arms, and the younger children ran underneath hand-in-hand. Alongside DeCastro, Kathryn Fishman-Weaver, Ana Nikolaou, and Jill Clingan joined as Mizzou Academy representatives at this event. 

Fishman-Weaver says that their role in the CCA holiday program was small and included financial support and attendance at the event. “However,” she says, “our high school students’ role was significant.” 

Nikloau, Coordinator of Brazil Operations, says, “Watching the student leaders having such a great time delivering all those gifts collected throughout the year and the smiles on their faces while interacting with the kids made me really proud of them! As the kids performed lovely dances with great commitment, I could tell they were so happy to have us all there.”

Students in the Magno Volunteers program have been regular volunteers and role models at CCA; the young children can’t wait to see them each visit. At the party, participants in the center programming received Christmas gifts funded by the generosity of Magno families and Mizzou Academy faculty and staff. Decastro recalls the “big smiles all around” as they opened their Christmas gifts and squealed with excitement as they unwrapped sneakers, soccer balls, art supplies, and more.

Fishman-Weaver says the best gift for her has been seeing high school student leaders like Carol, Luca, and Mirela grow up through our Mizzou Academy programs. She has worked closely with these students over the years, and some have even visited her home in Columbia, MO, during summer programs. “At this event,” Fishman-Weaver says, “I got to see them in their element, giving piggyback rides, dancing, playing pick-up ball games, and bowing their heads to give thanks before ensuring everyone was fed. These student leaders were all in for kids, showing us the kind of care that can transform communities.”

Student Leader Mirela Cruz and Fishman-Weaver led a rousing game of bata quente (hot potato) on the front lawn. During this game, Fishman-Weaver says she “was struck yet again by how small the world is and how much we belong to each other.”

Soon after the game, Luca asked her why the Mizzou Academy had traveled so far for this particular event. Fishman-Weaver smiled and told him, 

“Well, I think this is what it’s all about, you know? School. Community. Christmas. All of that.”

Just then, a seven-year-old girl came running full steam toward them, announcing it was almost time for lunch. The two laughed and followed the young girl inside.

Mizzou Academy Serves Looks Ahead to 2025

“This holiday season, I am grateful for the way care is threaded across our communities by organizations such as these,” says Kathryn Fishman-Weaver. “Our Mizzou Academy Serves initiatives are integral to who we are and how our school operates.”

When school counselor Amelia Howser joined the team in September 2024, she said this spirit of care was one of the first things she noticed about the school. “As a new staff member,” she says, “it has been such a privilege to join an organization where organizational values are put into practice! From our volunteer work at the local food bank to our annual coat drive, Mizzou Academy lives out our values of access and inclusion, and I feel so grateful to be part of such an amazing school community!”

Following the coat drive, the Mizzou Academy team also donated Thanksgiving dinner to residents of Harbor House, an emergency shelter run by the Salvation Army. Next month, they will be back at the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri for a shift at the Food Bank Market.

Photos from CCA shared by Colegio Magno and posted with permission.