Duffle bags project to benefit youth in foster care Nov. 17

Volunteers are invited to gather from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 17, to make duffle bags, toiletry bags and stuffed toys for children being taken into foster care.

The Villages of Five Points Property Owners Association will host this service event in its community center. 

The duffle bags are given to the Delaware Division of Family Services. Case workers give a filled bag to a child who is removed from home, often for reasons they do not understand. The bag becomes their own and can later be used for sports, extracurricular activities or future moves within the foster care system. Plastic trash bags, the most readily available container, were previously used, but that sent the wrong message, because these children are not expendable.

The Lower Delaware Duffle Bag Project was started in June 2018. Since then, volunteers have sewn and delivered more than 600 sturdy duffle bags to the family services division. In addition to the duffle bag, a toiletry kit with a few necessary supplies and a stuffed toy for the younger children or journal for the older children are provided.

The project is affiliated with the Sussex County Volunteer Delaware 50+ Advisory Council Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit organization that promotes volunteerism among older adults. 

The project provides complete kits for all the bags and stuffed toys. Sewing and non-sewing volunteers are needed.

Those interested in helping may send their name and email address to Hilda Chaski Adams at keepmailhca@gmail.com or via text to 314-420-2172.