Little Falls Boy Donates Care Bags For Foster Kids | Morrison County Record

Wanting to help children in foster care, 8-year-old Lennon Plevell donated several care bags to Morrison County Social Services, June 30. Pictured are (front row): Anniston Plevell, left, and Milo Plevell. Back row (from left): Darla Plevell, Lennon Plevell, Tonya Schwartz and Krista Theisen, Morrison County foster care licenser and permanency social worker.

Traveling home from school one day, Lennon Plevell, 8, of Little Falls told his mom, Darla Plevell, he wanted to do something for the homeless. Exactly what or how he didn’t know at the time, but it was the beginning of a donation that will without a doubt bless many, said Krista Theisen, Morrison County child foster care licenser and permanency social worker.

“I was thinking about homeless people and wanted to do something to help them. I just felt bad for them,” Lennon said.

Proud of her son’s selfless heart, she posted about it on her personal Facebook page. When family friend, Tonya Schwartz of St. Cloud, read about Lennon’s desire, she donated $200 to him. Rather than just give random people money, Lennon decided to narrow down the project.

Since the Plevell family has fostered and adopted children, Lennon has always had a special heart for those who are in foster care. Darla called Theisen and asked how he could help the foster care program. After talking about different options, Lennon decided to create first-night toiletry bags for all ages.

“We were able to do 25 different packets for foster kids for their first night, just to relieve some of the stress, anxiety and fear,” Darla said.

Small notes were also included in each pack, letting the receiver know they care.

“I thought it was really cool that they picked foster care because I have two sisters and they don’t live in Morrison County either, but they have done foster-to-adopt programs, as well. It’s cool to see how it ended up working out,” Schwartz said.

The packages were divided by age group rather than gender. For the infants’ packages, nail clippers, a toothbrush and other items were included suitable for that age. The teenage kit contains a toothbrush, Kleenex, floss, deodorant, chapstick and more.

The Plevells’ journey into providing foster care began several years ago. Initially, they intended to adopt children through a regular agency, but when it didn’t quite feel right, the family started to provide foster care.

“We decided to foster because we wanted to help the kiddos along the way,” Darla said.

Eventually, they adopted their children, Anniston Plevell, 3, and Milo Plevell, 3. While they have had Anniston from birth, only six hours old, Milo came to them as a one-month old.

Reminiscing, Darla said one of their biggest concerns when they began to foster children was how Lennon would respond.

“He’s really embraced it and you can see the compassion that he’s gained,” Darla said.

One example, she said, is when he gravitated toward a young boy at a playground who had braces and glasses and didn’t speak English. While the two were playing, Darla struck up a conversation with the woman who was with him. Whether it was his caretaker or a grandmother, she doesn’t know, she said. In conversation, Darla found out the boy was also adopted.

Another example, Darla said, is that whenever someone picks on him, he will continue to treat the person with kindness. Rather than to react with anger, Lennon considers that there may be other things in the person’s life that are influencing the angry response, she said.

“I just try to kill them with kindness,” Lennon said.

In 2021, Morrison County had 61 children in foster care. Of those, 25 were in the care of a relative, 10 were placed with a non-custodial parent and 26 were placed in the care of a non-relative, Theisen said.

When the agency works on a child protection case with a child or a family, Theisen said the child protection case manager works to reunify the child with their parent. In some instances, that isn’t possible for various reasons, such as the parent is deemed unfit to parent and will not care for the child’s physical, emotional and mental health, and the parents’ parental rights are terminated. As a result, the child then becomes a state ward.

“That’s when they land on my caseload, so it’s my job to finalize permanency whether that be with a relative or a kin that’s already identified or find them a permanency home,” Theisen said.

In 2021, Minnesota had more than 700 state wards of which 21 were in Morrison County. Of those, three adoptions were made.

“All three were adopted by relatives/kin,” Theisen said.

The number of children in Minnesota who entered out-of-home care was 4,546 with 5,817 children exiting out-of-home care, Theisen said.

There are currently 28 licensed foster homes in Morrison County. Of those, seven provide care for just relatives and two provide care for children with disabilities, Theisen said.

For more information about providing foster care in Morrison County, review the inquiry packet at www.co.morrison.mn.us/320/Child-Foster-Care-Licens ing.

To attend a child foster care orientation or to help in any other way, contact Theisen or Kim Dezurik at Health and Human Services at (320) 632-2951.

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