Foster Care Awareness Day: A Trash Bag Is Not a Suitcase
On Foster Care Awareness Day, we ask what it really means to see a child, and what we're prepared to do about it.
May 5 is National Foster Care Awareness Day, a time to reflect on the nearly 9,000 children in foster care across Tennessee. Children who could be your neighbors, friends with your children, and the countless faces of children you do not know. It’s a day to pause and consider their circumstances. More importantly, it's a day to ask ourselves, are we doing enough to improve the lives of children in foster care?
There's a detail most people don't know about foster care, and once you hear it, you can't unhear it. Children in Tennessee foster care move on average 3x more than any other state, and when they do, they carry their belongings in a trash bag.
That image of a child's belongings being packed away in a trash bag says something about how easy it is for the most vulnerable kids among us to be treated as an afterthought, even when no one intends it that way.
“Foster Care Awareness Month is a call to look closer—at the realities children face and the responsibility we share. Awareness is only the beginning; our hope is for a system transformed by compassion and accountability, where every child is met with dignity and given the opportunity to thrive, not just survive.” Cara Finger, Founder and Chief Bag Giver at My Bag My Story
What My County, My Story Is Doing About It
This May, in honor of Foster Care Awareness Month, My Bag My Story has launched the My County, My Story giving campaign with a bold goal: to ensure every child in foster care across all 95 Tennessee counties has a high-quality bag of their own to carry their belongings.
How this Works
For $2,500, an individual, family, or business can sponsor a whole county for a full year. That means every foster child in that county gets a sturdy backpack or duffel bag instead of a trash bag. That’s about 100 children, all supported, for the price of a weekend trip.
This is one of those rare problems that can truly be solved, not in the distant future or after years of policy changes, but right now, county by county, when communities come together to support Tennessee youth. A handful of states have enacted legislation mandating “dignified transportation” (luggage) for foster youth, but that mandate has not been adopted in Tennessee to date. That’s where you come in.
"This problem is fixable. It is simply unclaimed."
How You Can Help on Foster Care Awareness Day 2026
You don't have to sponsor a full county to make a difference. Every donation this month goes toward getting bags to kids in foster care across Tennessee. There are three simple ways to act:
- DONATE. Any amount helps. Every dollar goes directly toward bags for children in Tennessee's foster care system.
- SHARE. Spread the word about the My County, My Story campaign on social media.
- SPONSOR A COUNTY. If you're in a position to do so, a $2,500 sponsorship covers every foster child in a county for an entire year. Think of the difference you’ll make.
Foster Care Awareness Day is just one day. But the kids it highlights need advocates and supporters every single day. Don’t wait.
Let’s make May the month we close the gap and change lives.
Make May Matter. Adopt a county or donate at mybagmystory.com