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Once again my Usborne Books & More team is partnering with
My Stuff Bags to fill duffel bags for children entering foster care
all over our country. My Stuff Bags is an amazing organization that
works alongside many child welfare agencies in every state. T
hey provide duffel bags full of items for children who are
placed into foster care urgently, often with nothing at all. It is
their mission to provide these children with a piece of dignity,
comfort, and love.
As a secondary school counselor and a community therapist, I
have worked with many children entering and exiting foster care. All
of these foster children were special, but one in particular really
left an impression on me. I listened to their heartache of being
separated from their family and not knowing if they would ever be
reunited, I admired their gratitude of acknowledging they had a
loving foster mom, I heard their anger toward their parents (and in
turn themselves), and I watched their frustration of feeling like
they had no place or possessions to call their own. This is just one
story of 687,000 other ones.
Here are a few things I learned from this experience:
1)
Children in foster care need to feel safe, validated, valued, and
loved (just like all children do).
2) Social workers are
amazing people who are doing what is best for children and families
even if that isn’t apparent at all times - it’s a tricky world they
navigate.
3) Children in foster care need an outlet for all of
these emotions - journaling, reading, playing cards, exercising,
coloring, talking with a trusted adult, or simply eating laffy taffy
for a cheesy joke
I know stories like this can be overwhelming for one person and
often times I don’t know whether I’m making a difference. But
TOGETHER I know we can make a difference and bring some comfort to
children entering foster care by giving them a bag filled with
goodies and hygiene products.
Your donation will allow us to purchase three books. The first
is for the younger children; "Cuddle Bear" comes with a
teddy bear plush. It is a book about unconditional love and comfort.
The other two are for older children; "No Worries!" and
"Be Happy!" Both are filled with age-appropriate drawing
and writing exercises that help children define and understand their
feelings, and discover paths to happiness, peace and positivity.
They also help children cope with anxiety and stress, assist in
working out how and why they feel worried, encourage them to talk to
others about their worries, and feel calmer. Activities such as
these have been shown to have many positive benefits during trauma.
To date our team has raised over $150,000 in books and bears
(thanks to the generosity of Usborne Books & More and their
commitment to match ALL donations by 50%)! No donation is too small.
UBAM will match it! I believe that you and I TOGETHER can continue
to do great things!
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