A friend turned me onto a really neat website. While I was looking around on there, it led me to another website. Let me tell you about them.

Band Together

The headline on the website reads:

Built for youth. Powered by youth. Changing life in foster care.

The young people who have developed this organization and website are amazing. This website is designed specifically for kids in foster care. It empowers them to make changes to the foster care system, and helps them learn how to find their voice, rather than complaining about things. What an incredible lesson to teach!

There are links and collaboration with some really incredible organizations, like the National Foster Care Coalition.

Band Together refers, in part, to an awareness campaign where kids wear a blue “band” on their finger, like a ring. The website even says to use blue painters tape, or a blue band aid. It doesn’t matter what it is, just get people asking about the blue band, and talk about foster care.

The young people involved in this don’t come across as angry. It sounds like they want to bring awareness to foster care. They have FACTS on their website. They’re not just working off emotion.

There are even concrete examples of how different youth lead organizations, like scouts, fraternities/sororities and schools can get involved.

Can you tell I’m impressed with this?

Orphan Foundation of America

One of the links off of Band Together is for the Orphan Foundation of America. This site caught my eye because of something called The Red Scarf Project.

I’m an avid knitter, so this combines two different passions for me. The Red Scarf Project is specifically for kids who are “aging out” of foster care and heading off to college.

These red scarves are sent off to college students who are former foster children. The Orphan Foundation of America picks up all the costs of shipping, and has a list of young adults in need. The project is only three years old. The first year they received 3,500 scarves, and last year they received 15,000! How awesome.

They also allow people to donate toward the shipping costs, and send other things, like food cards, or encouraging notes. I remember being in college and how much the rare note from home mattered to me. What if you didn’t have anyone at “home” to send you anything?

Check out the websites for these organizations, and if you’re crafty, make a red scarf or two. You know someone will appreciate it.

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