The Brown Bag Campaign is included in this newspaper issue to remind readers of the plight of children entering the foster care system, and 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.

Readers of The St. Ignace News will find a small brown paper bag imprinted with that message – 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 campaign’s name was chosen because 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 or plastic bag.

“The Brown Bag Campaign not only raises money for kids in need,” said Jim Scherrer, executive director of Child and Family Services, “it calls attention to the vital need for people who have room in their hearts and their homes to become foster and adoptive parents.”

There is a need for foster parents in Mackinac County, Child and Family Services reports.

Children are placed in foster care because of abuse, neglect, or delinquency, and range in age from newborn to 18 years.

The campaign has raised more than $170,000 for these needs in the past 19 years.

For more information on the Brown Bag Campaign, or on how to become a licensed foster parent, call Child and Family Services at (231) 946-8975.