CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Last year in Texas, over 4,000 children were waiting to be adopted into a loving home.
During National Adoption Month, NEC Co-op Energy and local nonprofits Agape Ranch and Majesty Outdoors have found a special way to spread awareness about foster youth and families.
Many coffee drinkers in Corpus Christi will notice something new on their cups when on their daily coffee run — specially designed drink sleeves created by Agape Ranch to raise awareness for foster children in need of loving homes.
Agape Ranch, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping foster children and families, has partnered with 13 locally-owned coffee shops to distribute 20,000 drink sleeves throughout the Coastal Bend as part of their 'Sleeves of Support' campaign.
The initiative aims to bring attention to the challenges faced by children in foster care and encourage donations to support the nonprofit’s mission.
“We’re trying to bring awareness to National Adoption Month because there are many children in foster care who are waiting for adoption into a forever loving home,” Shannon Murphy, community relations coordinator for Agape Ranch said.
The coffee sleeves have a QR code that will take you to Agape Ranch's website to learn more about its programs, as well as a call to action for donations.
“They get the word out for us by putting these sleeves on their cups,” Murphy said. “They have all these coffee shop visitors every day, and every day they can put this information into the hand of their customer.”
"It's going to give them the chance to say, 'Hey, what is this?' and take them to either site for Agape or for Majesty just to learn more about the programs," Executive Director of Majesty Outdoors Dave Cotham said.
Also a part of the initiative, Majesty Outdoors is a nonprofit that mentors fatherless youth through outdoor experiences.
Cotham said partnering with Agape Ranch for the Sleeves of Support campaign was a no-brainer.
“Many people don’t understand the magnitude of the need in our community and across the nation," he said. "Agape Ranch and Majesty Outdoors both bring hope to kids who might not have it otherwise.”