Foster Care Backpack Drive Craft & Vendor Show

Fishville Farms Events LLC is hosting a Foster Care Backpack Drive Craft & Vendor Show on Saturday, September 10th, 2022 from 10am to 4pm at the Chelsea Fairgrounds. They will be collecting donations of school supplies and backpacks for local foster care students at this show. Fishville Farms Events LLC is operated from Fishville Farms located between Grass Lake and the Manchester Area and owned by Tasha Lynn (Fleming).

Lynn stated, “As a previous foster child myself, I know that one of the hurdles they have to navigate is not having the proper school supplies. At the end of the day, the average foster parents DOES NOT receive enough funding for the foster child to adequately afford everything the child needs. Foster parents do do an amazing job, but the stipend they receive for each child is easily stretched too thin monthly. As a foster child, I vividly remember being too embarrassed to ask the teacher for even a simple pencil. I didn’t want to draw attention to my situation, and I surely wasn’t going to ask the people giving me a home for ‘more’. I want to help this issue. No child should ever be embarrassed to ask for something they NEED.”

While there are many school supply drives out there, and Lynn acknowledges that every child is absolutely deserving, she didn’t see ANY school supply drives to specifically benefit foster children. This is when she decided to involve her event planning company and organize a school supply-drive craft show.

There is no admission charge to the craft show but Lynn will be collecting donations of backpacks and school supplies. She stated, “Our hopes are to be able to provide 50 students with a backpack AND the basic necessities of (at least) pencils, paper, pens, crayons, hand sanitizer and tissues.”

In addition, the show will also support 40 local crafters, bakers and artisans in their small businesses as well. She stated, “By giving them a safe place to showcase and sell their creations and products, we help them to be able to afford the necessities in life as well as help support their children’s growth and future as well.”

Questions about the craft show? Contact Tasha Lynn at 517-917-5776.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.