The Mission

The 2010 50 States in 50 Days tours mission is to play a show in a different State every night for 50 nights in a row while seeking out Orange Duffel Bag Stories to bring light to the epidemic of teens aging out of foster care. I will blog and videologue along the way. I will attempt to get these stories on tape, so that people can see them and feel them…….focusing on asking the question “who was the one that made a difference in your life?” A turning point……where you realized that someone cared, and that became enough.UPDATE-here is the official press release.
How? Get in vehicle and drive, or fly when required (Alaska/Hawaii)
Why? My sister, Echo Montgomery Garrett,  wrote “My Orange Duffel Bag” with Sam Bracken. He stepped up to the plate and hosted the Utah show on the 2008 50 States in 50 Days tour. And, they’ve been pro-active in setting up the non-profit Orange Duffel Bag Foundation. They are offering clear solutions, and ways that YOU can get involved to help a teen in need. Someone who has no one. I’m joining them in this effort.

From the Orange Duffel Bag Foundation website:

When Sam Bracken left Las Vegas for Atlanta after winning a full-ride football scholarship to the Georgia Institute of Technology, he packed everything he owned in an orange duffel bag and left behind a life of homelessness, poverty and abuse.

“In much the same way that Sam did, we want young people to pack their bags with hope and a dream for the future. We also want to encourage corporations and organizations to pack those same bags with connections to communities and tools that will help young people succeed on their journeys. Our vision is to make the orange duffel bag a symbol of hope for at-risk youth like the pink ribbon has become for breast cancer. Please join us on this adventure.” – Sam Bracken and Echo Garrett, authors of My Orange Duffel Bag: A Journey to Radical Change

We’ve established The Orange Duffel Bag Foundation as a nonprofit to show at-risk youth in a tangible way that people care about them and to help provide them with life skills training and resources that will aid them on their paths to self-sufficiency.

Imagine for a second that you are a teenager. You have spent your entire life in foster care. No parents, no one to nurture you, no one to help you negotiate life’s nuances………you are aging out, and will literally be “released” onto the streets in one week. Who is going to help you? Who is going to guide you? How are you going to afford basic things that we all as humans need? This is what the Orange Duffel Bag Foundation is trying to address. Sam Bracken was homeless. He’s been there. This book gives those kids something they can relate to. Read these facts about teenagers aging out of foster care-the statistics will stun you. Buy the book.

10 Ways you can help with this mission:

1. Host a house concert in your State. Simply email me at kevin at kevinmontgomery.com.
2. Join the “I Support Kevin Montgomery’s 50 States in 50 Days tour”-facebook groups are the best way to crowd around a cause.
3. Join my personal email list, so that I can send you an email when i’m in your state.
4. Subscribe to the50statesin50daystour.com by Emailso that each time I post you will receive notification.
5. Go to the Orange Duffel Bag Foundation’s website and read. There is a section dedicated to ways that you can help.
6. Attend a show in your state.
7. Share this post with others.
8. Invite all your friends to the “I Support Kevin Montgomery’s 50 States in 50 Days tour” facebook group. Here is a tutorial on how to “invite all.”
9. Subscribe to my Youtube channel. I will be posting daily videologues from the road.
10. Your business could sponsor a show? Email me.

So, that is the mission. 50 States in 50 Days. Get involved. Host a house concert. Tell friends. Share. Watch this newscast to get further inspired.

For those that are totally new to me, and my music………..you can listen, buy, and share in this widget. Also, visit kevinmontgomery.com and connect there.

Or, see this video from the forthcoming cd, “Some Comfort”………….

What are your thoughts on this?