Needy Wish
This wish has been granted!
A Duffelbag for a Foster Child
Many foster children are supplied with garbage bags, for transporting their personal belongings to and from foster homes.
Social workers do this just to make the job quicker and easier... but what kind of a message does this send to a child? Does it not say, "your belongings are not worth much"?
Might a child also suffer feelings of personal worthlessness - "my stuff is worthless, and so am I"?
A group of friends and I would like to address this issue. We are working on our first duffelbag drive, to support our local foster care programs. The first drive will conclude just before the new school year (August 2008). At that time, we will decide whether to continue our efforts as an ongoing project.
The $15 will go toward the purchase of one new/gently used duffelbag. But what I am truly wishing for is moral support, and some great ideas from the GoN community. If you have ever worked on a project like this before (especially from the ground up) I'd love to hear from you.
Thanks for considering my wish! (more)
Comments
Thank you so much for granting this wish!! :D
If I had the money I would grant this wish...but I dont so I am donating all my stars :) spunky
this is a great idea. good luck.
good luck
Roses are red, Violets are blue, here's giving 5 stars from Sweetest Rose to you. @>
You have my 5. Good Luck and Great wish
** I'll be away for a few days, having a much-needed vacation & reunion with my cousin, whom I haven't seen in nearly 20 years!
By the time I get back, this round of wishing will be over. No matter what the actual outcome will be, I consider this round a marvellous success!! Your outpouring of support and great ideas has helped so much! I will continue to keep you involved and informed by posting on the forum, by PMing with you, and in submitting the occasional wish.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. You warm my heart.
here are my 5 stars i hope they help
hope my 5 helps.
I love this wish! :)
Great Wish!
You have my 5. Check your messages.
Will let you know when the package arrives.
You have a lot of great support here, and wonderful ideas, too! I just love this project idea and that you are doing this. I think writing for grant money is a wonderful idea, or to the manufacturers of duffel bags. They might even donate new in addition to flawed bags. I am not sure where you are from, but I would even think about doing something like this in my area. Have you posted on WUAH and microgiving? This is a project these two places might get behind and also more members input if they have done something like this before. My niece would be homeless if not for my brother and sis in law (her brother's daughter) and she was shuffled from place to place with landlords often keeping all of her things including her bike and barbies. Thank you so much for caring about these kids.
Getting "seconds" from duffelbag manufacturers is a great idea! I will pursue that.
There is no other organisation in my area (southern NH) doing this that I know of - my daughter & I started this from the ground up, less than 8 weeks ago. If you'd like to start something in your area, I'd love to talk some more with you about what we're doing and how you can do it too.
There's a website that has some great suggestions on getting started: [ link ] I'm using a lot of their resources.
Your wish deserves five stars, good luck!
What a great wish! GL
Hi i do not have much my self but i have ALOT of extra large totes, duffle bags etc please contact me at gummydarlene@aol.com and i can ship them to you there all brand new
here is my 5
If you can find someone in the industry, this would be a great use for the "rejects" from the production lines. A crooked seam, wrong color panel, etc.. is not going to make a difference here. But these places throw the "defects" out. Maybe you could get a manufacturer to donate the rejects.
Good luck!
You got my five!!
This sounds like a really nice idea.
It might be an idea to write up a really nice letter. See if you gan get it on the stationary of the organization that the kids are fostered through to make it look official and bring it to local businesses. Stores like Walmart, and sometimes local industries (here in our city I know the mining companies do) make a specific $ amount worth of donations to local causes each 1/4 or something like that. Sometimes they give money and sometimes items. It is worth a try!
You could request help with bags and/or items (or money to shop for these things) to put in the bags to provide a little something special for the kids.
adding 5 more stars to your collection!
good luck
Hey, I'll always give this my 5, just pls remind if you can, via link in PM! Hugs, Lisa
wonderful wish
You have my 5 ***** Good Luck!
Oh such a GREAT wish!
5*****
luv ya so much
This is a wonderful cause!
Hope you get your wish.
voted great wish
What a thoughtful and lovely project! You have my five stars!
I hope and pray each child will receive a new bag thanks to your big heart. You have my 5 stars
May you could include a little care package with each duffel such as a journal, special pen , a stuffie. You can pickup some inexpensive items from the dollar store and put together a very nice care package inside of each duffel for a transition.
Fantastic Wish....
Giving it 5 and hoping everyone else will too...
You will always have my support on this wish. I make keep-blankets for foster children to help with the transition from foster home to foster home and hopefully back home again. The program does really well here.
best wishes for sadeek reem
this is a great wish heres my 5
Thanks for your comments, and your support! It means a lot. My daughter, coworkers, friends and I are working hard on this. How marvellous it will be if we can continue to do this, long after this particular drive has concluded.
I hope this wish and all your wishes come true! 5*****
~*~Hugs~*~
Best of luck !!! Great wish.