Cherish the Children
Anthony Trucks, who turned a childhood in foster care into a successful career and life as a family man, told attendees at the April 9 Cherish the Children luncheon at the Omni Dallas that they have the power to change lives right in their hands.
Hosted by the Dallas CASA Children’s Council, the event raised funds for the abused and neglected children served by Dallas CASA. More than 350 people attended this year’s luncheon, which honored Judge Cheryl Lee Shannon with the Caroline Rose Hunt Cherish the Children Award.
Trucks challenged the audience at the luncheon to reach out to children in need and use their skills and talents to help those children reach their potential. Trucks’ earliest memory is of his mother giving him to foster care at age three. For the next three years, he cycled between five foster homes, many of them abusive. He remembers waking up to a flurry of fists and being forced to chase chickens to earn his meal. At six years old Child Protective Services brought him to a new house in too-big black boots, a too-small black shirt and too-short purple corduroy pants to a foster mom who loved him despite it all.
The evening before the luncheon, Trucks donated his time to meet with many of the foster youth Dallas CASA serves. He told a group of teenagers and their dedicated volunteer advocates that kids in foster care can have tough times but they can come out stronger because of those tough times.
