St. Thomas University students petition for foster care suitcases

Four Maritime students have started a petition to make life a little easier for children in foster care.

Lauren MacNaughton and Starr Arbing are both studying social work at St. Thomas University in Fredericton.

They are half of a four student team with a mission to get a set of luggage for every foster child in New Brunswick.

They want to make sure no child has to move to foster homes using garbage bags to carry their belongings.

"The issue of garbage bags has been brought up by many children in care," MacNaughton said.

Arbing says it's about dignity.

"The majority of people use a suitcase so how can we expect children who are very vulnerable and going through different traumas in their life at that moment, put all their stuff in a garbage bag or a box," she said.

Both students are from Prince Edward Island, where such a program already exists. It's funded by the province to ensure suitcases are provided, at cost, by a major luggage retailer.

First hand knowledge

Arbing knows first hand the difference it can make.

"I went into care at birth and I moved to many different foster homes," she said. "Honestly, I can't really even say a number of how many homes I moved. I remember one specific moment when I had came home and my belongings were in trash bags."

Arbing says providing luggage is just a small, but important part of making life better for foster children.

The New Brunswick petition has over 600 signatures after just one day.

"We're hoping for a thousand," MacNaughton said. "But if we could push that even further, brilliant!"

The mission is part of a class project the students hope the government will read and act on.

"And to imagine, like one day, if I ever worked here in Fredericton as a social worker, and moving a child and seeing that they were actually able to use a luggage set," Arbing said.

"Instead of the garbage bags, and to know, you know what, we made that small little difference in a child’s life."