‘Making the holidays brighter’: Treehouse CEO shares why one gift can change everything for foster kids
Dec 9, 2025, 4:26 PM
As Christmas draws near and families pile presents under the tree, thousands of foster children across Washington face a different reality.
Treehouse, the state’s leading foster care education organization, is working to ensure kids don’t miss out on Christmas morning joy.
“The holidays are a really special time for us,” Treehouse CEO Dawn Rains told “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. “We feel this is such a critical time to help young people experience that sense of normalcy.”
“If you could imagine what it would be like on Christmas morning, a young person wakes up, and there are no gifts under the tree for them. You can imagine how that feels. And then how it continues to feel when you go back to school, and everyone’s talking about what they got for Christmas. So holiday magic has always been about providing one significant gift, the kind of centerpiece gift for that young person, that then that foster parent or relative caregiver can kind of build around,” she continued.
Rains noted that many families who step up as foster parents often don’t have the resources to provide a lot of gifts, so donations make a real difference.
“KIRO Newsradio listeners have been such important partners in just making the holidays a little bit brighter for our young people,” Rains added.
On Wednesday, December 10, KIRO Newsradio is hosting its annual Holiday Magic radiothon from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Each hour, a different item will be announced on air, and listeners will have the chance to call in at 888-973-5476 to try to secure it. Listeners can also simply make a donation on Treehouse’s website.
Watch the full discussion in the video above.
Listen to “Seattle’s Morning News” with Charlie Harger and Manda Factor weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio. Subscribe to the podcast here.
