Two Hundred and Fifteen

Kari Bale
Jun 1, 2021

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A number like 215 can be hard to fully grasp, fully appreciate. Forty-three quintets. Almost eighteen dozens.

215 children is even harder to fathom.

Five pairs of children’s shoes stand empty in a line.

215 curious minds. 430 frightened eyes. 2,150 fingers grasping for help.

215 futures destroyed. And we will never know how many children, how many grandchildren, how many great-grandchildren might have been but never could.

215 moms, dads, aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents, all left with broken hearts and broken spirits.

215 souls stolen from just ONE site.

ONE site… out of almost 500 in the United States and Canada.

We struggle to comprehend 215, but hundreds — thousands — more are still waiting to be found, waiting to go home.

215 is only the beginning.

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Kari Bale

Kari Bale is a writer, editor, and speaker from San Jose, CA. She is a Stanford alum, former teacher, citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and wife and mother.