HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — May is National Foster Care Month and with help from James I. Dawson Elementary School, Legacy Health Connections is hoping to draw awareness to foster care by getting the youth involved.

Wednesday afternoon, students at the school held drawstring bags in front of their faces. Legacy Health Connections‘ officials say those bags are called ‘Possibility Bags.’

“Because there are some students here who are in foster care, and they cannot be videotaped and put on social media or the news…we had the children just holding the bags to cover their faces. We want them to believe that they are unlimited possibility,” said Legacy Health Connections CEO Debra Smith. 

She told News 19 there are hundreds of children in foster care in Madison County.

“On May 1st, I emailed DHR and found out there are 431 children who are in foster care,” Smith said. 

Smith also says there’s a growing need for more foster parents.

“There’s such a great need for it…not just here in Madison County, but across the state of Alabama and across the country,” added Smith. 

Wednesday’s event was an opportunity to show the youth how to be compassionate, concerned, and kind to those around them.

“With our encouragement of children thinking of themselves as unlimited possibility, I’ve developed a possibility planner which is like a vision plan…but it has individual pages where kids can choose the topics they’re interested in and write a vision about it,” stated Smith. 

If you’re interested in fostering, you can visit the Alabama Department of Human Resources website.