Community & Culture

A Major Milestone for the Ticket to Dream Foundation

By Mauri Knowles

January 13, 2017

Back in 2008, the Ticket to Dream Foundation was established to provide hope and opportunity for foster children across the nation by collecting essential items through donation drives in 43 states. Those items are then distributed to 150 carefully chosen nonprofit partners in the communities in which they were collected.

Its partner programs, Mattress Firm Foster Kids and Sleep Train Foster Kids, host drives in communities nationwide to ensure that foster children have the resources needed to succeed.

3,000,000 Items Donated

We're so excited to announced that the Ticket to Dream Foundation has reached a major milestone: over the past 10 years, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit has collected three million essential items – like shoes, school supplies, coats, pajamas, clothing and toys – for foster youth nationwide.

Our mission at the Ticket to Dream foundation is to provide hope and opportunity to foster kids across the nation so they can just be kids,” said Gina Davis, president and executive director of Ticket to Dream Foundation.
“The generosity of our communities and valuable partners over the past 10 years has been phenomenal. The impact of these donations is far-reaching and we are so grateful to anyone who buoyed our efforts through the donation of a pajama, pair of shoes, clothing item, back-to-school supplies or toys.”

Helping Local Partners Help Foster Kids

The mission of the Ticket to Dream Foundation is to provide support to ease the burden on foster families – who sometimes must instantly provide everything that a child needs, even if this child is the family's fifth or even twentieth foster child.

The organization works to ensure these children have the essentials they need to build up their self-worth, fit in with their peers, feel cared for and have the little extras that make childhood fun. In foster care, they may be safe from harm but still have huge hurdles to overcome.

Sleep Train Foster Kids was established in 2008, and in addition to the six donation drives, also hosts the Sleep Train Pajama Bowl and the Sleep Train Charity Gold Classic to raise funds for foster children.

Mattress Firm Foster Kids was launched in 2015, and recently partnered with former foster child and three-time World Champion Simone Biles to help create awareness of the program.

More:

Mattress Firm Foster Kids

Mauri Knowles

Mauri Knowles

As director of community relations for Mattress Firm, Mauri Knowles channels her passion for helping others by connecting Mattress Firm employees with opportunities to make an impact on their communities and partnering with local non-profit organizations. Mauri joined the Mattress Firm family of brands in 2004, and since then she has helped us donate more than 2 million essential items and $5 million to foster children in need. She also serves as vice president of the Ticket to Dream Foundation, which supports the Mattress Firm Foster Kids program and raises funds and awareness for pancreatic cancer. Mauri says that one of her proudest moments of her career was helping launch the foundation in 2008. A California native and proud alumna of California State University, Sacramento, Mauri loves staycations with her family to the beach and nearby lakes. And, whether for work or for pleasure, she throws a good party; from themed dinner parties for family and friends to our annual golf tournament and fundraiser – if Mauri is in charge you know you’ll have a good time. Best Night’s Sleep: Mauri sleeps happy at home on her Beautyrest mattress on a moveable base after a day spent helping others; and she typically wakes up the next morning having spent the night dreaming it’s possible to do even more.

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