Not many parents forget how many children they’ve cared for in their life, but Verna and George Kite have.
The Bethlehem couple can tell us they’ve fostered children across five decades, but only know the number is in the triple digits.
Now the octogenarians have been recognised for their selfless and tireless efforts by the Governor General in Wellington.
Their outstanding accomplishments and 56 years contributing to New Zealand’s foster care system have earned them an Honouring Excellence award at 2024′s Excellence in Foster Care Awards in March.
The Weekend Sun journalist Ayla Yeoman sat down with the couple to explore their 56 years of fostering children.
“We got short-term children from Hamilton Court whose parents were fighting for custody.
“They’d bring them out to us and we might have them for a week, three weeks ... for three months.”
The couple had two sons of their own, who, with older sister Andrea, grew up with foster children coming in and out of their home throughout their childhoods.
“It was great, our children have said to us it was good for them because they realised how lucky they were.
“We had a lot of children that didn’t even have a home and didn’t have parents and had nobody that cared about them.”
Verna admitted she’s been heartbroken many times.
“You sort of think: ‘I’m not gonna do this again’ but then the next one comes up, so you do it.”
It takes a special kind of person to dedicate their life to making others’ lives better – Verna and George are the epitome of this.
The Weekend Sun saw that they clearly, really loved every child – and no child was more important than another.
Every story they told, they told with the same amount of enthusiasm – sharing memories of the good and the bad, the times they laughed and the times they cried.
“They open up and once they open up it’s great because they get it all off their chest.”
The couple would love to continue to foster children, even at their age, but unfortunately, George’s health isn’t up to it.
“We always had foster children up till the last couple of years when George got heart problems.
“We do weekends with children or if there’s an emergency child, we’ll take emergency children but we don’t do full fostering.”
“I’d love to, but George isn’t up to it any more; he’s 85 and I’m 80,” Verna said.
Next week The Weekend Sun will share the couple’s experiences with the children they have fostered over the years, while not identifying the individuals.