The 31st Annual Holiday Cottage that helps Kern County foster kids has reopened in the same northwest Bakersfield location as last year. Project Manager Heidi Carter Escudero says people can visit the Calloway Drive location that’s just north of Rosedale Hwy during the next two weeks and select a gift request for a child. “We have families that come back every year, some of them looking for the same name, because they know that some of these kids grow up in foster care.” The gift requests are for children from newborns to those who are starting college or careers, and need a little help.

Suzanne Grant/Jill Michaels