Help Me Raise Money for Foster Children

Hi, I am Lucy. I am a middle school student from the US and I am raising money to buy supplies for foster kids.

It began in my Language Arts class when we were assigned a project that had my class research and create a plan to help an 'outsider group', though we weren’t required to execute it. An 'outsider group' was any group of people who were different in the eyes of society, and the name was a reference to The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.

I have always felt for children in foster care. I believe every child deserves a life that lets them be safe, happy, and carefree, and every child deserves a home and a family who will give them that. So, I chose to center my project around raising money for children in foster care. And as I prepared my project, I knew I had to go through with it in the real world. After all, there are over 500,000 children in foster care nationally. These kids are homesick, angry, scared, and over 50% of them experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress. If we can make an impact, even just a small one, then we have to.

The money raised will be used to buy supplies that help better the lives of children in foster care, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, towels and washcloths, socks and underwear, and toys. I will mail these supplies to organizations that provide them to children in foster care, including The New York Foundling, Treehouse, and Friends of Foster Children.

All donations, no matter how big or small, are appreciated.

Citations:

Bruskas, D. (2008), Children in Foster Care: A Vulnerable Population at Risk. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 21: 70-77. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6171.2008.00134.x

Lehmann, Stine, et al. "Potentially Traumatic Events in Foster Youth, and Association with DSM-5 Trauma- and Stressor Related Symptoms." Child abuse & neglect 101 (2020): 1. ProQuest. 24 Jan. 2022.

Photo: John Birdsall MR / John Birdsall Social Issues Photo Library / Press Association Images / Universal Images Group