Pictured: C. Warren Moses (far right) with the student stars of "The Orphan Train" at The Elisabeth Morrow School.
The eighth grade students at The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, New Jersey mounted a production of Aurand Harris’ “The Orphan Train” play on May 6th and 7th. In lieu of charging admission, the young actors requested donations for The Children’s Aid Society. The students raised almost $690 – and awareness amongst their friends and families – for Children’s Aid.
Charles Loring Brace, the founder of The Children’s Aid Society, began the Orphan Train movement in the 1850s to combat the harsh life faced by many children on the streets of New York City. He proposed that these children be sent by train to live and work with families on farms out west. More than 120,000 children were moved between the 1850s and 1920s.
C. Warren Moses, the CEO of Children’s Aid, was a special guest on the play’s opening night. Mr. Moses thoroughly enjoyed the production, which chronicled the stories of several children who traveled on the Orphan Trains to the Midwest seeking adoptive families. After the play, he spoke to the audience about the history of the Orphan Trains and Children’s Aid’s current work in New York City.
Photo courtesy of The Elisabeth Morrow School
Tags: Aurand Harris, C. Warren Moses, Charles Loring Brace, Children's Aid New York City, children's aid society, Orphan Trains, The Elisabeth Morrow School
By Children's Aid Society
New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) recently marked the beginning of National Foster Care Month with a commemoration to raise New Yorkers’ awareness about foster care, celebrating generous New Yorkers who have opened their hearts and homes as foster and adoptive parents. The Children’s Aid Society in New York, which partners with ACS, began its efforts to help the thousands of homeless, abused and orphaned children living on the streets of the city in 1853. That program, called the Orphan Train Movement, is still recognized as the foundation of the modern-day foster care system in the United States.
Today adoption and foster care constitute one of The Children’s Aid Society’s largest service divisions, and among our highest priorities, as we continue to work for the nearly 17,000 children living in foster care in New York. National Foster Care Month is a great opportunity to highlight this continuing need — thanking foster families and social workers who care for children — and encouraging New Yorkers to become foster parents, volunteers or mentors. Many foster care alumni have taken that crucial early support and mentoring to go on to many great things in life.
New York’s Children’s Aid Society finds safe and nurturing homes for more than 640 needy children a year, a powerful statement of commitment and care. In addition, we also provide many specialized services for youths and families in the foster care system. Learn more about becoming a foster parent.
Tags: adoption, children's aid society, Foster Care, foster parents, national foster care, new york city, orphan train
By David
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