TRAVERSE CITY — Today, a brown bag is a symbol of hope for foster kids in the region.
Child and Family Services of Northwestern Michigan is holding its 23rd annual Brown Bag Campaign today to raise both awareness of and funds for children living in foster care.
The humble and utilitarian bag symbolizes the outreach because so many youth in crisis arrive in foster clutching their meager belongings in a paper bag.
The Traverse City Record-Eagle, a sponsor of this year's campaign, is inserting the Child and Family Services paper bag in all newspapers today. Thanks to other sponsors and regional newspapers in northern Michigan, 135,000 brown bags will be disseminated throughout Child and Family Services' 15-county region.
Other sponsors include Charter, Cherryland Cares, a project of Cherryland Electric Cooperative and the Oleson Foundation.
The annual fundraiser typically nets $20,000 to $25,000 earmarked for some extras. The Brown Bag Campaign allows foster children to experience what other young people take for granted: music lessons, summer camp, sports and dance classes. Since it began in 1990, the Brown Bag Campaign has raised more than $225,000.
"We know that the basics are vital to a child's development but there are also extras," said Gina Aranki, marketing and public relations director for the agency, which in 2012 celebrates its 75th year of operation. "We cover them with the help of the community."
Child and Family Services of Northwestern Michigan has, on average, approximately 110 children each day placed out of their homes. Those children — from newborn babies to 18 years old — enter foster care due to abuse, neglect, or delinquency.
Region
Brown bags benefit foster children
Brown bag is inside today's newspaper
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Man could face 7th domestic violence conviction
A Traverse City man with six prior domestic violence convictions is due back in court on the same charge.
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DDA chief nurtured downtown TC growth
Bryan Crough loved to listen to people talk about downtown Traverse City and how it has become a hot spot for the arts, dining and commerce.
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Officials to meet on Cass, Hartman-Hammond river crossings
The Cass Road Bridge will be replaced after all.
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Clearing the Record: 06/18/2013
Because of a reporter’s error, the creator of the six dogmen costumes for the “Dogman 2: Wrath of the Litter” movie was misidentified in Saturday’s Record-Eagle.
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BATA plan: Load more bikes on buses
Cyclists who pedal the Leelanau Trail between Traverse City and Suttons Bay now have more back-and-forth options.
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Goodwill to develop food truck
An area nonprofit will rely on more than $20,000 in taxpayer-funded grants to begin operating a food truck that accepts Bridge Cards.
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Downtown leader passes away
TRAVERSE CITY — A community pillar who literally helped shape downtown Traverse City died unexpectedly Sunday night of an apparent heart attack. For more than three decades, Bryan Crough, 59, left his mark on local politics and culture, serving as a
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Light & Power board balks at price of proposal
Traverse City Light & Power board members balked at a $60,000-plus, no-bid proposal to plot the city-owned utility’s future.
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Empire event to celebrate beloved soundman
The northern Michigan musical community will pay homage to one of its own during the Summer Solstice Celebration of Music and Community on June 23 from noon to 9 p.m. at Johnson Park in Empire.
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'Thunder' to roll to honor vets
Members of Rolling Thunder Michigan Chapter 1 invite the public to polish their chrome and join them as they hit the highway for their fourth annual Pure Thunder-escorted veterans memorial ride.
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Northern Notes: Just Mulch gets thank-you
Debra Norman, principal at Lake Ann Elementary School, wrote to thank Scott and Deb Talquist from Just Mulch for providing the school with the equipment and manpower to keep its pond and waterfall operating.
Continued ... - Sunday, June 16, 2013
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TBAISD to hold budget hearing
Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District Board of Education will hold a hearing on their fiscal year 2013-14 budget on Tuesday as board members consider whether to spend some of their nearly 58 percent fund balance.
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'Family is our whole life': Raising quadruplets plus two
Since her quadruplets grew out of diapers, life smoothed out for Tonya Lewandowski.
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Program aims to keep tenants in their homes
Charles Alexander sat in 86th District Court and uttered that he'd rather be dead than homeless.
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Acme beach buildings demo set
Acme Township purchased the last of three buildings on its growing project to create a mile-long shoreline park, and demolition crews are ready to dive into work.
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Free fishing day hooks young anglers
Screeches, squeals and screams of excitement could be heard from Northwestern Michigan College's Great Lakes Campus as kids reeled in rainbow trout.
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Fire damages Garfield Township home
Firefighters were called to 4327 Stoneridge Dr. Saturday at 2:12 a.m. and arrived to flames through the roof.
Continued ... - Saturday, June 15, 2013
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Michigan still reeling out cash incentives
The heyday of Michigan’s movie incentives has faded, but director Rich Brauer lauded the state’s restructured movie incentive program as “very, very intelligent.”
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Dogman yelps again in film
Walter Rowen panted, not unlike a dog, after he sprinted around on aluminum stilts with furry paws at the bottom with two other similarly outfitted men.
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Predictions of turbine's demise premature
The nation’s first wind turbine run by a public utility can once again handle a good blow after a 10-month odyssey of failures and almost $50,000 in fixes.
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Traverse City Manager Bifoss' tenure ends next week
City Manager Ben Bifoss will finish his career at Traverse City with a Monday meeting marked by routine items void of controversy.
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Discussion to address suicide prevention
Local residents are invited to listen in and share their voices during a national discussion about suicide prevention.
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Group works to halt invasive plants' spread
Landscape professionals who work in Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, and Antrim counties are invited to register for Go Beyond Beauty, a new program of the Northwest Michigan Invasive Species Network.
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More sea lamprey treatments, surveys scheduled
Scientists plan to find and kill parasitic fish in several local waterways.
Continued ... - Friday, June 14, 2013
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Coming Saturday: Dogman yelps again
Walter Rowen panted, not unlike a dog, after he sprinted around on aluminum stilts with furry paws at the bottom with two other similarly outfitted men.
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Man could face 7th domestic violence conviction
