Savannah Bananas spotlight foster families through Bananas Foster nonprofit
A sold-out night at Historic Grayson Stadium honored a foster family with nine children at home, as the Bananas turned Banana Ball into a call for more licensed caregivers.
A foster family with nine children at home was honored in front of a sold-out crowd at Historic Grayson Stadium as the Savannah Bananas used Banana Ball to put foster care in front of fans. Bananas Foster, established in 2023 and now the official nonprofit of Banana Ball, celebrates foster families while educating and inspiring others to get involved.
More than 400,000 children and teens in foster care across the United States do not have a permanent home. Bananas Foster’s long-term vision is a world where every child and teen in foster care has a safe, loving place to call home. The organization also wants a future where there is a waitlist of licensed foster families instead of a shortage.
For Jesse and Emily Cole, that mission grew out of their own household. The owners of the Savannah Bananas became licensed foster parents in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown after years of talking about foster care and adoption, and Emily Cole said the experience showed them that “the longer we wait, the longer these kids will wait.” The Coles had two daughters join their family through foster care, and their first placement call came the day before they were officially licensed, though they turned it down because they were newly licensed and already had a very young child at home.
Jesse and Emily Cole adopted two girls, Kenna and Addison, after more than 1,000 days. Kenna arrived as a nonverbal 2-year-old and Addison arrived as a 6-day-old baby, and the family has continued to travel and homeschool while advocating for foster care.
Bananas Foster’s game-day programming turns that kind of visibility into action. Foster families receive a Very Important Banana, or VIB, experience, which includes interactions with the team and a behind-the-scenes look at the show. The nonprofit measures success in part by tracking how many people inquire about becoming licensed foster families after seeing the in-game celebration and QR code.
In December 2025, the franchise launched Bananas Foster as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and honored its first Bananas Foster family at Historic Grayson Stadium. That family had been foster parents for five years.
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