Garbage Bag Girl is the story of Celeste L Edmunds, who was shuffled back and forth in the foster care system during her childhood. Award-winning author Richard Paul Evans co-authors this story of triumph over a system that still lacks funding and oversight.
The title of the book, Garbage Bag Girl, comes from the Edmund's experiences moving from home-to-home with nothing but a garbage bag. Her biological parents were addicts, and her childhood was an ongoing cycle of police calls, fighting, and physical, sexual, and mental abuse.
At age 7, Celeste was taken from her home and placed into a child welfare system, where moving every few months to a new environment became normal. By the time she was 16, Celeste had lived in more than 30 cities before finding home in an unlikely place. This is her story of hope and love.
I talked with Celeste about her life and her charity, The Christmas Box, which provides temporary shelters for children. The program keeps a thousand siblings together each year, when they have lost everything else. The name comes from the best-selling novel The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans, who co-wrote Garbage Bag Girl. The Christmas Box is the quiet story of parental love and the true meaning of Christmas.
