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Last Day to Donate to 2nd Annual Pack A Backpack Drive
National Foster Care Month provides an opportunity raise awareness of the experiences and needs of the more than 400,000 children and youth in the foster care system. Pack A Backpack Drive is The Teen Toolbox’s annual National Foster Care Month event. During the month of May we have collected and distributed new and gently used backpacks (duffel bags, and luggage) and new personal hygiene items to teenage males in group homes, foster homes, and homeless shelters.
Today is the last day to donate: toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss, hand sanitizer, deodorant, soap, acne products, lotion, powder, shampoo, conditioner, shaving items, etc. We are also collecting disposable cameras and wallets.
What I Know Now:
- These drives have grown too large for Nicki to make all the deliveries
Children and Teens in Foster Care Belong to All of Us
Every state in the United States has children and teens in the foster care system. These young people belong to all of us. May is National Foster Care Month. Let’s show that we care.
National Foster Care Month Core Messages:
- The Magnitude – on any given day there are more than 400,000 children in foster care.
- The Need – every child needs at least one permanent connection with a caring, trusted adult
- The Faces of Foster Care – a disproportionate number of children in foster care are children of color but children of race, ethnicity, culture and age group are a part of the child welfare system
- The Consequences – youth who age out of the system are more likely to experience a variety of negative consequences including homelessness and prison
Kick Off to National Foster Care Month 2013
Today is the day. May 1st marks the beginning of National Foster Care Month. This entire month is dedicated to showcasing that each of us can play a part in enhancing the lives of children and youth in foster care.
National Foster Care Month 2013 – Supporting Youth In Transition
- On any given day there are more than 400,000 children in foster care.
- Roughly 28,000 youth will leave foster care without a permanent family.
National Foster Care Month also provides an opportunity for acknowledging the thousands of dedicated foster families and other caring individuals and organizations who are already supporting youth in foster care. We can never publicly recognize all the agencies supporting these young people. We will highlight various agencies throughout National Foster Care Month.
Participating in Global Youth Service Day?
Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) celebrates and mobilizes the millions of young people who improve their communities each day of the year through service. Established in 1988, Global Youth Service Day is the largest service event in the world, and the only day of service dedicated to children and youth.
Pack A Backpack Drive is our annual drive to collect and distribute backpacks, duffel bags, and luggage with personal hygiene items to teen males in foster homes, group homes and homeless shelters each May during National Foster Care Month. Our Pack a Backpack Drive makes an awesome GYSD project.
Become An Ambassador: National Volunteer Week 2013
National Volunteer Week begins today. National Volunteer Week 2013 is celebrated April 21-27. It is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to seek out imaginative ways to engage in their communities. It’s about demonstrating to the nation that by working together, we have the fortitude to meet our challenges and accomplish our goals.
National Volunteer Week is sponsored by Points of Light and was established in 1974.
It is about taking action and encouraging individuals and their respective communities to be at the center of social change – discovering and actively demonstrating their collective power to foster positive transformation.
You can get involved with National Volunteer Week by becoming a Pack A Backpack Ambassador. An Ambassador organizes and hosts a collection site for our Pack A Backpack Drive. We would like to collaborate with fraternities, youth groups, churches, sports teams, school clubs, and parent groups.
Disposable Cameras for Teens in Foster Care
Remember the story from a couple months ago of the adoptive mom/photographer’s ‘newborn’ photo shoot with her 13-year-old son that went viral? Great…keep that in mind and see request below.
Our Pack A Backpack Drive™ to donate backpacks, duffel bags, and luggage launched on April 8th but today I want to add another item to the wish list – disposable cameras. I wish I could take credit for this great idea but I can’t. The idea was shared with me by Foster Care Alumni, Kea Theroux, after discussion with a Foster Care Alumni of America group on Facebook. Kea was a part of our December blog series highlighting a successful women foster care alumni. As group members were discussing foster care life books, the conversation shifted to the lack of pictures the members had of themselves and the others they were in care with. A foster alum, that is now a foster parent, told the group that as a foster youth, she bought a camera to take pictures of herself and her foster siblings so they would have them too. A great idea was born.
Birthdays and Foster Care
Today is my birthday – and it is a BIG one! I’m really excited about it.
“BIG” birthdays for over 20,000 teens annually means an exit from the foster care rolls whether they are sufficiently prepared to make it on their own or not.
On another note, too many other foster children spend too many birthdays in foster care waiting for a permanent family to celebrate these and other special days in their lives.
While I am celebrating I am also advocating. Today is also the kick-off of our 2nd Annual Pack A Backpack Drive to collect backpacks, duffel bags, and luggage for teen males in foster homes, group homes, and homeless shelters. Donations will be delivered in May during National Foster Care Awareness Month.
Happy Birthday To Me!!
Donations to Pack A Backpack Drive will make an awesome birthday gift for me!
Related Post: Why Is 21 The Magic Cut-Off Age?
