Foster homes for abused children are being spotlighted in a newspaper Brown Bag Campaign this week, sponsored by Child and Family Services of Michigan, Inc., a nonprofit coalition of community human services agencies. Now in its 17th year, the campaign seeks to raise awareness about foster care while soliciting donations to help provide for children's needs.

This week's issue of The St. Ignace News contains a Brown Bag Campaign envelope that readers can use to donate to the program.

The organization is seeking foster parenting, particularly in the

Upper Peninsula, where Child and Family Services has no registered homes.

The foster care system helps children who have suffered abuse or neglect and gives adults the opportunity to be parents to children who need them.

Denise Rolfe and Nelson Thompson of Mackinaw City were certified last April and, by May,

the engaged couple had two children in their home and have found it to be a rewarding experience.

"The kids are doing great," Ms. Rolfe said. "They're growing like weeds."

One of the children recently learned to ride a bike, and both enjoy feeding the couple's donkeys,

ducks, and chickens. The entire family enjoys the outdoors, T she added. Some children in the foster care program will eventually be reunited with their parents. Others are legally available for adoption.

Whenever siblings are involved, Ms. Rolfe said, the agency tries to keep them together.

"It's hard enough for them to be pulled out of their homes," she said, "so they avoid splitting up siblings at all cost."

To ensure that potential foster parents are eligible, the agency conducts background checks, gathers biographical information, and analyzes the family environments in which potential foster parents grew up.

This not only helps the agency determine who is capable of being a foster parent, it also helps make long term "good matches," which is important, because some foster parents adopt the children they care for.

Eventually, Ms. Rolfe and Mr. Nelson plan to adopt children. Prior to becoming foster parents, they looked into private adoption agencies, only to find them too expensive. To make matters easier for

potential foster parents, Child and Family Services pays for parenting classes, home studies, provides Medicaid for foster children, and provides a stipend to pay the bills that children inevitably generate.

The agency, however, can't pay for everything. This is where drives such as the Brown Bag Campaign come in. Not only do children need stable, affectionate, and disciplined parenting, they also need clothing, school supplies, transportation, and the "extras," such as music or dance lessons.

In its 16 years of operation, the Brown Bag Campaign has raised $120,000, benefiting newborns to 18-year-olds. On any given day, about 180 northwestern Michigan children are cared for in out-ofhome placement through Child and Family Services, excluding children in other foster care agencies such as through the state's Department of Human Services.

Ms. Rolfe emphasized that foster children sometimes come from chaotic backgrounds that require extra patience or vigilance on the part of parents.