My Bag, My Story Initiative & Reader Giveaway

Did you know that my family, my Grandmother, Carolyn, and her brother, Danny Lee, adopted me as a child? A simple act of loving devotion that has left me with a lifelong desire to see other children find their forever homes. No easy task, as many children in various state foster care systems are moved from home to home, from house to house, often toting their limited belongings in transient, trash bags. Leaving impressionable children, young scholars, artists, and athletes already struggling to find their place in this world, struggling to retain personal dignity and space.

While these problems lie much larger, more complicated socioeconomic, economic, and politicized issues. Yet, there are simple ways that everyday people, those like you, and I, can help- ways as simple as they are straightforward.

“My Bag My Story,” a non-profit organization that strives to improve the lives of foster youth by providing children with high-quality travel-style bags. With each bag purchased, another high-value bag is donated to help children navigate state foster care systems.

This initiative seeks to address the stigma of children and adolescents being prevented from the indignity that comes with carrying their possessions from place to place in mere garbage bags. Providing foster youth bags that are more than practical simplicity. These bags, train cases, and duffle bags are symbols of value, support, and recognition. Affirming the value of the shared human experience for every child in the foster care system. Helping American foster children feel seen and supported.

My Bag, My Story Founder, Cara Finger, explains that the organization’s origin started when she “Became a foster parent and watching children always have their belongings in a trash bag or grocery sack or nothing. Everyone kept saying this was normal. I said it doesn’t have to be normal, so I set out to have bags made for kids,” That “having a bag to call your own instead of a trash bag gives a child dignity and makes them feel valued. A bag seems so small but makes a huge difference in their foster care experience. Making a child feel like they are worth more than trash is so important to me.” A message vital to me as a fellow adopted child and as someone who, in turn, has helped support members of my own extended family to adopt children in recent wartime conditions.

Beyond community and state donations, My Bag, My Story has partnered with more than 30 Tennessee-based organizations to work directly with children in the foster care system to get them high-quality duffle bags, train cases, and backpacks. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, My Bag, My Story depends on the generosity and support of national corporations, including Dell, The Predators Foundation, Saint George’s Episcopal Church, and the Target Corporation.

National Foster Care Statistics

According to the United States Department of Education, more than 400,000 children rely on the National Foster Care System. With nearly 20,000 young persons aging out of foster care annually, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, respectfully. Many are without the option of being reunited with their families of origin or legalized adoption. Presenting challenges to young people transitioning to independent living without the guise or financial means of establishment. You can learn more about the foster care system and its many challenges to young children and adolescents, here.

Ways To Help

Ordering a bag from My Bag, My Story, helping to lend security and dignity to children and young adults navigating the foster care system, is one great way you can help send young Americans onto the path of dignity and diversity, today! With so many great options and styles, featuring high-quality fabrics, your generosity can help uplift children from the comfort of your own homes. You can also read other My Bag, My Story accounts on its website, and check out My Bag, My Story on Instagram and Facebook.

If buying a My Story, My Bag duffle, train case, or tote isn’t an option for you at present, I ask that you please consider sharing this organization’s mission with those in your own life. And if you’re looking for other ways to serve foster families, here are other ways you can positively impact those living in foster care in your neck of the woods.

Giveaway

To help spread this impactful message, the good people of Momentum Influencers are giving one TheLadyPrefers2Save.com reader a chance to win their own $10.00 Amazon card. To enter, please tell me in the comments about your own experiences with the foster care system. Or how you believe individuals can help improve the national foster care system. A winner will be chosen at random on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, at 11:59 P.M. CST. Gift cards will be electronically sent from Momentum Influencers. Duplicate entries across all participating campaign websites will be disqualified. Good luck!

Friends, have you or your loved ones been impacted by the foster care system? Please leave your comments below.