Show You Care Spotlight: Jeremiah Zhorne - KCRG

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) An eastern Iowa teen knows firsthand what it’s like to live in foster care. So this school year Jeremiah Zhorne wants to help other kids in similar situations.

Zhorne and five other students have worked since August to collect supplies for area children in foster care. It's part of Iowa Big, a project-based learning course for area high school students.

"This one I wanted to do because it meant so much to me,” Zhorne said.

Zhorne lived in foster care for about four years. And December 28th will mark two years since his parents adopted him. He knows what it's like to enter a new home.

"I've been with Matt and Amanda with six, almost seven years now,” he said. “When I went into foster care I had literally nothing but the clothes I was wearing, no toothbrush, no comb, no other clothes, no nothing."

Zhorne used this experience to help with the project.

A holiday drive collected more than just toys, also duffel bags, hygiene projects, and clothes. And other students were eager to give back to their community. They partnered with local businesses to set up a giving tree.

“So any customers or students that walked in they had the opportunity to grab a tag off the tree and go buy that toy," Alexis Peckenschneider said.

The group collected more than 200 items. It all went to Families Helping Families of Iowa, a nonprofit based in Cedar Rapids that helps foster kids across the state. And the students have plans to extend this project to next semester. This time it'll be a garment drive.

They have a lot of new clothes going in,” Penckenschneider said. “But they don't have new undies, bras, socks and there is a shortage of them."

For Zhorne, he hopes this project does more than collect donations. He wants others to know what children in foster care endure.

"Not every kid has the same story in foster care,” he said.

He says he is now part of a loving family. But it wasn't always so easy.

"It kind of was a chance for me to become a stronger person with a stronger personality. I kind of learned how to be a kid again, because I used to have to be a parent,” he said.

Zhorne wants this community to give all children a chance.

“On the outside, they may look like their acting up or a bad kid but there is a bunch going on inside.”

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Show You Care Spotlight: Jeremiah Zhorne - KCRG
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