Iowa Woman Felicitated For Being The Foster Parent Of Around 600 Kids

An Iowa woman from Johnson County has been felicitated for fostering close to 600 children over a span of five decades.

The woman, Linda Faye Herring started fostering kids along with her husband Bob, back in the 70s. The inspiration came after she saw her friend doing the same with girls who were teens. Just that, this Iowa woman wanted kids, and not grown-ups. This is when she went up to the Department of Human Services, who gave her permission to foster kids who had special medical needs.

Throughout Johnson County, Herring was known to never turn a child away. The child could be of any age, color, creed or caste and she would foster them. In her Resolution of Appreciation, the Board of Supervisors wrote: “The Department of Human Services would call Linda in the middle of the night to take a child, and she would meet anywhere to get a child”.

She had just one answer to why she was doing it- her love for children. “I would just love [my foster kids] just like they were my own, probably more than I should,” Linda said. She mentioned that she would always weep when a child left her care, no matter how long the child was with her. This was the sort of motherly affection that she felt- her love for foster kids almost overlapping her love for her own children. “…I kept doing it because I had so much love to give to these children in need.”

As they say, charity begins at home- this Iowa woman’s biological children have also fostered children. In fact, her grandchildren have also gone on to foster children. This is simply a nice chain of humanity passing down from generation to generation.

Last year in October, she finally decided to stop fostering more children because she had her own health issues to deal with. But let us be clear, she didn’t stop because she was sick; she stopped because she thought her old age would prevent her from taking as much care of these children as she wanted to.

As she stepped down, she was felicitated by the Johnson Country Board of Supervisors with a Resolution of Appreciation for her continued efforts to help the children.

The Board of Supervisors, Department of Human Services and a standing room only crowd recognized Linda Faye Herring last night for nearly five decades of serving as a foster parent to more than 600 children in #JohnsonCountyIA. pic.twitter.com/wGV4jqEBMj

— Johnson County, Iowa (@JohnsonCountyIA) January 10, 2020

This Iowa woman’s favorite part of the day is when the children she fostered come back to meet her. It is always an emotional affair, which brings back all the memories of her life as a foster parent.

An Iowa woman from Johnson County has been felicitated for fostering close to 600 children over a span of five decades. The woman, Linda Faye Herring started fostering kids along with her husband Bob, back in the 70s. The inspiration came after she saw her friend doing the same with girls who were teens. Just…

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