GREENSBORO, N.C. — Moving around from place to place as a foster kid is hard enough. Not having a proper bag to place your things in, makes the experience even worse.
"You never know when you were going to come in to foster care. Like for me, somebody showed up to my day randomly," Terin Convington said.
At nine-years-old, Covington entered the foster care system unexpectedly with no bag to place her belongings.
"When she showed up all I could do was put my stuff in trash bags," she said. "Moving someplace with a trash bag that's kind of embarrassing. It kind of makes you feel a little lower than everybody else.
SaySo, Strong Able Youth Speaking Out, wants to make the transition a little easier for the 5,000 children who enter foster care every year in North Carolina.
SaySo, an association under the Children's Home Society of NC, is collecting new or gently-used duffel bags for youth in foster care.
"It’s already a stressful time. So this gives them a little sense of dignity and a little bit more self-esteem and worth knowing what they are getting ready to go through," director of SaySo Carmelita Coleman said.
The goal is to have 2,500 suitcases and duffel bags donated by Saturday, Oct. 26, Make a Difference Day.
You can drop off bags and/or donations at two Triad Children Home Society locations:
100 North Gate Park
Winston-Salem, NC 27106
604 Meadow Street
Greensboro, NC 27405
You can also purchase items off of SaySo's amazon wish list.
