Dear John,

Child care workers have always been essential to our everyday lives. But for too long, these providers, disproportionately Black and brown women, have kept the country running without getting the recognition, or pay, they deserve.

That changes today on National Child Care Provider Appreciation Day with the launch of our new campaign: We Are the Backbone: Faces of a Child Care Nation.

In celebration of every child care worker that has impacted our lives, today we ask you to thank a child care worker. Share the story of how these workers have been the backbone of your daily life.

We Are the Backbone is an opportunity to highlight the critical work of child care providers and puts faces to the stories of the people who keep our country and economy running. The campaign features real providers, including workers at Sweet Potato Kids Child Care Center, ACCA Development Center, and Hopkins House. Captured by Lloyd Foster, these photographs show us the life of providers in a pandemic and how they have held us up and kept us all going.

If COVID has taught us anything, it’s that without child care, our families, our communities, and the economy would not function. We need to value care and the women—disproportionately Black, brown, and immigrant women—who provide it.

Please take a moment to send these incredible child care providers a message of your support.

Sincerely,