Serenity Mathis teaches fifth grade at Bluewater Elementary School. In addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, Mathis decided to teach empathy, too. 

Mathis saw our story about Cases for Kids, a fundraising initiative from Guardian Ad Litem of Northwest Florida that purchases baggage for foster children to move their belongings from foster home to foster home. 

So far, Mathis and her class of fifth graders have raised more than $625 for children in need – meaning that four kids will receive a duffel bag filled with goodies that they can also transport all of the things they own in the world from home to home. 

I was so touched by the children’s generosity,” Guardian Ad Litem representative Donna Franke said, “It was great how interested they were to hear about what Gal volunteers do . The children had so many questions about the children in foster care. We brought a couple of the cases for them to see. They were so excited about foster children receiving bags they had donated toward.” 

More than 1,000 kids per month enter the foster care system for some length of time in northwest Florida every month, according to a statistic from the Northwest Florida Guardian Ad Litem Program. 

Many of those children end up carting their belongings from foster home to foster home in black plastic trash bags. It’s the mission of Guardian Ad Litem’s Cases for Kids program to give every child in foster care a respectful way to move their belongings. 

You can learn more about the Cases for Kids program here.