INDIANAPOLIS This holiday season, Hoosiers are stepping up to help our most vulnerable children, those in the state's child welfare system.For the sixth year in a row, the Indianapolis Colts, Hands of Hope and other organizations are working together to spread love.They are hoping to let foster kids and parents know there is someone out there who cares."On Christmas day, a child is going to wake up and they're going to be so excited and smiling," Suzy Roth, Hands of Hope Executive Director, said. Hands of Hope is a nonprofit that serves foster families statewide. In 2023, their work impacted the lives of over 4,900 children in foster care.The Christmas gift program is called Hope Gifts. Donors get a child's wish list and foster families pick up the gifts."One thing I love about it is those foster parents and kinship parents who are doing the hard work every day, they get to be the heroes of the story. They get to give the children the gifts," Roth said. "Its grown so much. Suzy and I are super proud of being able to provide for hundreds of foster kids," Kristin Ballard, Huddle for Hope Coordinator & Ambassador, said.Kristin and her husband, the Colts General Manager, Chris Ballard fostered and then adopted two of their daughters."It's not only seeing what the children go through because the children do go through a lot. It's really what the foster parents go through as well," Kristin said. "It's hard, it's emotionally hard, it's hard on the family, it's hard on a relationship." That is why Kristin is so passionate about giving back through Hope Gifts and another initiative with Hands of Hope called Huddle for Hope.Huddle for Hope started with Kristin and the Colts giving 10 tickets to a Colts game for foster families to attend the game and visit the field. It has now expanded to 25."We are able to talk to the foster parents on the sidelines and to share those stories and to relate to those foster parents because we do understand. We do understand like we weren't always the general manager. We were where they are, and that makes a huge difference for them to say, 'Oh, wait, they do get us. They do understand what we're going through,'" Kristin said. Kimberly Barkman and her husband have been on the receiving end of the generosity from Hands of Hope.After struggling with infertility, they began fostering their now-adopted sons in 2020 when they were newborns, their youngest was a safe haven surrender."They're the sweetest, kindest, most loving boys, and we're so grateful that we have them in our lives. Since we had two babies, our church stepped in and said, would you like a care community?" Barkman said. Hands of Hope's care communities provide a meal a week to foster families and childcare when needed. "Mine and my husband's family lived out of town at that time, so just knowing that we had people in our corner and somebody that we could rely on if we needed something in that moment. It was really nice to have that, just a good peace of mind," Barkman said.Hands of Hope says 50% of foster parents quit after the first year because they feel alone and isolated. Roth says statistics show that number drops to less than 10% with the help of a care community."Which is a win for the kids, because that means the kids don't have to move around one more time, right? They can stay in their home, in the home that they're in, and not have additional trauma," Roth said.This year, over 1,000 kids will benefit from Hope Gifts. One of many efforts Hands of Hope does to provide hope, love, and joy to kids who haven't had an easy journey.Click here to get involved with Hands of Hope.