The Lower Delaware Duffle Bag Project kicks off Nov. 27

Volunteers will deliver the first hand-sewn, sturdy duffle bags from The Lower Delaware Duffle Bag Project to caseworkers of the Delaware Division of Family Services Tuesday, Nov. 27, at 10 a.m., at the Georgetown Public Library, 123 W. Pine St., Georgetown.  Funders and volunteers of the project (including the Perdue Foundation) will be on hand to celebrate the first gift of bags.

The project makes bags for the 240 children a year entering the foster care system in Sussex and Kent counties.  Volunteer groups such as Nimble Fingers, a stitching group within Sussex County’s Volunteer Delaware 50+, sew the duffle bags.  Through the Volunteer Delaware 50+ Advisory Council Inc., donations of goods from individuals, New Life Thrift Store, Savoy Embroidery, Lowe’s and Home Depot support the project.  A grant from the Franklin P. Perdue and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation Inc. assures that the project will reach its goal for this year.  Pat Senkowski, president of the advisory council, says, “We greatly appreciate the generosity of the donors to such a worthwhile project that touches the hearts of so many children and volunteers.”

“It’s terribly sad to think of children being taken from their homes - oftentimes due to reasons they don’t understand. It is even worse when one realizes that they are sometimes asked to stuff their belongings into a plastic garbage bag, the most readily available container,” said Hilda Chaski Adams, who coordinates the project. “We do not want foster children to equate themselves with garbage, something disposable that no one wants.  A well-constructed duffle bag of their own just might bolster a child's self-esteem during a very bad situation.”

Melissa Higgins, foster care coordinator, Division of Family Services, says of the project, “So many times, children enter foster care with little or nothing. The duffle bag enables our children to have something of their own in which to put their belongings. The bag becomes theirs and then can be used for camp, sports or travel. 

Ann Gorrin, Volunteer Delaware 50+ program manager for Sussex County, says, “The number of volunteers who have stepped forward to make this project a reality is amazing. In just two months, over 58 individuals came together to prepare and sew the duffle bags.”