AUSTIN, Texas — With high school graduation around the corner, many local teens are excited for the next chapter of their lives.
But for some teenagers in foster care, graduation is a time when they are preparing to age out of the system – and it creates uncertainty as to what will happen next.
Hunter Beaton, founder and CEO of Day 1 Bags, grew up with siblings who were adopted into his family through foster care. Beaton wanted to provide those in foster care with something more than just a trash bag for children to move their belongings from place to place.
The nonprofit provides foster youth with duffle bags and backpacks filled with books, journals, toiletries, a handmade quilt, snacks, a gift card and more to help them transition in a more dignified way. The hashtag the organization uses most often to describe this is "#DignityNotTrash."
One of the programs the nonprofit has is called "Adopt a High School Senior from Foster Care," where local high school seniors across Texas and the country receive a bag on graduation day. According to the website's description, the campaign is the "most ambitious and necessary initiatives" run by the nonprofit.
"Foster youth are significantly less likely to graduate high school and finish out their education based on individuals that have the care of one or two parents. In fact, less than 50% of all foster youth graduate with a high school diploma. Even then, those that do end up graduating are not given the proper celebrations and gifts that they deserve. Many haven’t the family or community to celebrate their accomplishments," the website details.
These reasonings alone are what inspired the campaign. Each bag gifted to a graduating high school senior costs around $175, and the nonprofit is still in need of 60 volunteers to help provide donations to ensure every senior graduating out of foster care receives a bag.
Visit the nonprofit's website to see how you can help those in foster care and graduating out.