Simple Act With a Big Impact!

In partnership with Lifesong for Orphans, The Forgotten Initiative, seeks to bring joy and purpose to the foster care community.

They have many different avenues of how we can get involved and one is creating "Journey Bags" for your local foster care agency--ultimately reaching foster kids in your community. What is a Journey Bag you ask? Children often come into foster care with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Journey Bags are backpacks filled with personal items for kids to have when they are abruptly taken out of their homes.

I invite you to listen in as Heather, a foster mom, shares the impact these Journey Bags had on her foster kiddos!

Last night at midnight three precious little beauties showed up on my doorstep.  They each had with them a blanket, a stuffed animal, and a book bag....their Journey Bags of course.  I kept waiting for more, anything more, but nothing came.  The investigator told me that yes indeed this was all they had. 

Our 5 year old had come with shoes which were so bad they had to be thrown away, one of our two year olds had no shoes, the other two year old had two left shoes.  When I asked about getting anything out of the home the investigator said it just wasn't going to be possible.  The kids had nothing.  There worldly possessions consisted of Journey Bags. As I stared at those bags I began to cry.  What if no one took the time to fill those bags and deliver them.  What would our children have then.  Absolutely nothing.  Nothing to claim as their own, nothing to protect or cherish.  Thank you for all you do.  Thank you for my kiddos Journey Bags.

--Heather, Foster Mom

Interested in reaching out to your foster care community through journey bags? Check out The Forgotten Initiative's website to find out more!

We'd love to hear form you! What are other ways that YOU are reaching out to your foster care community?

Taking Care of the Details - The Forgotten Initiative

Listen in as Jen Young, Forgotten Advocate, shares the impact one 'journey bag' had on a precious foster care child,

A caseworker called to say thank you for the journey bags we delivered. She described one story of a child that came into care with a sibling from a horrible situation that involved a death of a parent. Caseworkers tried to keep the two brothers together, but could not, which was very difficult for the boys.  The caseworker said that when she gave them a journey bag, their eyes lit up. She expressed how excited they were to have their own bag and the joy it brought the kids really touched the caseworker as well.

I couldn't help but tell this caseworker about the 500 bags we received from a church that put each of these bags together.  I told her that while we're glad the bags are appreciated, needed and useful, God cares about this child and took care of the details. His hand was upon this situation and He knew just what this child needed!

The "Journey Bag Project" is just one way The Forgotten Initiative, partnering with Lifesong for Orphans, seeks to bring joy and purpose to the foster care community. 

To see how you can be involved or to learn more, please visit their website.