How You Can Help a Foster Child Start the Year Right
All over Tennessee, families are getting ready for back to school. A familiar time of year when parents are shopping for new school supplies and backpacks are packed, filled with hope for a new beginning.
But for the nearly 9,000 children in foster care in Tennessee, things can often look very different.
What Back to School Looks Like for Foster Youth
For children in foster care, back-to-school time rarely brings the same excitement and preparation as it does for most kids. Many are adjusting to a new home, a new caregiver, and a new neighborhood, sometimes all at once. Starting a new school year can also mean starting at a completely new school.
Research shows that children in foster care are three times more likely than their peers to change schools, and six times more likely to move schools three times or more. Each move means losing about four months of learning, putting them at a disadvantage through no fault of their own.
That is not just an academic setback. Each move disrupts relationships with peers and mentors, and the instability that starts in child welfare echoes across education, mental health, and long-term opportunity.
Ultimately, only about 50% of foster youth graduate from high school, compared to 83% of all students. The gap does not begin in high school. It starts much earlier, with the many disruptions these children face as they grow up.
How You Can Help Before the Bell Rings
Our back-to-school campaign is underway, so now is the best time to help. A backpack cannot fix all the challenges foster youth face, but it does something important. It gives a child dignity and can change how they feel when they walk into school.
At My Bag My Story, we believe every child in Tennessee should start the school year with something of their own. Not a trash bag, but a real bag, brand new, filled with hope for what this year can bring.
Here are three ways you can help:
MAKE A ONE TIME DONATION. Every dollar goes directly toward getting a quality backpack into the hands of a foster child before the school year begins. A single $25 donation covers one bag for one child. [Donate here →]
BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR. One-time gifts make a quick impact, but ongoing support helps My Bag My Story reach more children throughout the year, not just at back-to-school time. When you give monthly, you help restore dignity to children in foster care all year long. [Become a monthly donor →]
SPONSOR A COUNTY. Through our My County My Story program, you can sponsor an entire Tennessee county and ensure that every foster child in that community has a backpack to start the school year. It is one of the most impactful ways to give and one of the most personal. [Sponsor a county →]
Give before the bell rings. A child in Tennessee is counting on it.