{"id":52942,"date":"2026-04-28T10:49:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=52942"},"modified":"2026-04-27T10:50:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T15:50:40","slug":"help-foster-youth-by-donating-to-accs-2026-luggage-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/04\/28\/help-foster-youth-by-donating-to-accs-2026-luggage-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Help Foster Youth by Donating to ACC\u2019s 2026 Luggage Drive\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This year, about 60 Austin-area foster youth will graduate high school. When foster youth turn 18 and\/or graduate high school, they age out of the system with nothing more than a plastic bag to hold all their belongings. Austin Community College District (ACC) wants to change that through ACC\u2019s Annual Foster Care Luggage Drive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was moving from home to home in foster care, all I was given was a brown paper bag or a trash bag. That made me feel like trash because not only did I have to move, but I was given something trash goes in.\u201d Former foster youth, ACC graduate, and current ACC employee Shilda Fresch spoke on just how important this support is. <\/p>\n

How You Can Help<\/h3>\n

Donate a Suitcase:<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can drop off new or gently used carry-on-size rolling suitcases with ACC\u2019s CARE Coordination Team. You can find all the CARE Coordination Team Offices here. <\/a><\/p>\n

Make a Monetary Donation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Visit the ACC Marketplace web page to contribute.<\/a> A $45 donation covers the full cost of one new carry-on rolling duffel, but any amount makes a difference.<\/p>\n

All contributions benefit the Department of Family and Protective Services\u2019 Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) program. Donations will be accepted throughout May. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDonating is crucial because a single act of kindness can change a life. You never know what obstacles someone might face on their path to success, and lending a helping hand can uplift and inspire others,\u201d said Shilda.<\/p>\n

Since ACC started participating in the Foster Care Luggage Drive in 2009, more than $17,000 have been donated. This year, the College hopes to donate $2,700 and\/or 60 pieces of luggage. <\/p>\n

Donate Here!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year, about 60 Austin-area foster youth will graduate high school. When foster youth turn 18 and\/or graduate high school, they age out of the system with nothing more than a plastic bag to hold … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3930,"featured_media":47459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[4375,916,1992,234],"class_list":["post-52942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-announcements","tag-care-coordination","tag-donation","tag-foster-care","tag-luggage-drive"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3930"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52942"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52943,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52942\/revisions\/52943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}