There are no registered homes to care for foster children in Mackinac County at this time, reports Gina Aranki of Child and Family Services, and the agency has launched a newspaper campaign to make readers aware of the need for foster parents to open their homes as well as donations to benefit children in the foster care system.

Children who have been abused or neglected often come into foster care with little but the clothing they wear, or their few belongings jumbled into a brown paper bag, Ms. Aranki said. This is the important message of Child and Family Services’ Brown Bag Campaign in The St. Ignace News this week. The Brown Bag Campaign calls attention to the plight of children entering the foster care system—their need for stable, affectionate, and disciplined parenting, for clothing, school supplies, transportation, and for the extras of childhood such as music or dance lessons. In 15 years, the campaign has raised more than $100,000 for these needs.

Readers of northern Michigan newspapers will find a small brown paper bag imprinted with that message of hope—that the care of individuals can truly make a difference in the life of a child whose beginning has been less than ideal. Donors may place a contribution in the bag, stamp it, and mail it.

“The Brown Bag Campaign calls attention to the vital need for people who have room in their hearts and their homes to become foster and adoptive parents,” said Jim Scherrer, executive director of Child and Family Services. “As the number of children in foster care grows, the number of available, licensed foster homes must grow too.”

Child and Family Services is averaging about 200 children a day in out-of-home placement. Children are placed in foster care because of abuse, neglect, or delinquency, and range in age from newborn to 18 years.

To learn more about becoming a licensed foster parent, call Child and Family Services at (231) 946-8975.