Sunday, October 30, 2016

Foster Love Project: Holiday Placement Bag Drive

 

The call came from the social worker....could you take in a 2yo and 4 day old? A 10 minute chat with my husband determined that we would say yes. 45 minutes later they were dropped off on our doorstep with literally no belongings. That's a big change of life in a short amount of time!
In 2015, over 20,000 kids were served through the foster care system in Pennsylvania along. Many of these kids are taken to a foster home with no belongings or a few items thrown into a trash bag. After receiving 7 foster children into our home with similar scenarios, I desired to do something to help aid with the transition of kids that come into care as well as give some practical help to foster families. So in 2014, I launched the Foster Love Project with our first Placement Bag Drive. 


A FLP placement bag contains:
  • Duffle bag or large backpack (or zippered diaper bag for infants)
  • 2 pairs of pajamas (one summer, one winter)
  • Socks
  • A small blanket
  • Stuffed animal (or small pillow for teen bags)
  • Book
  • Toothbrush & toothpaste (flouride free for under 5)
  • Puff & body wash 
Our placement bag drive will run November 15 - December 15, 2016. This is a wonderful project to take on as a family during the holidays. Share with your kids about foster care and how they could reach out to kids in their school that might be in this challenging transition. Kids love to shop to fill these bags as well!




We are so thankful for the amazing response we've received around our region. We've been able to distribute over 3,000 filled bags to over 20 foster agencies in 10 counties in Western PA. 




Want to know the easiest way you could participate? Shop our online wishlist and the complete bag will be shipped directly to us. You won't even have to leave your house!  Shop our online list here. 


We are also collecting as many gift cards as possible! We share these with foster agencies and foster families when they receive a new placement to help with their practical needs. Restaurant gift cards help relieve the burden of cooking dinner for a few nights and Target/Walmart/Visa cards help with clothing, diapers, wipes, formula, school supplies, ect.... Gift cards can be sent to us via our online wish list here  or they can be mailed to:

Foster Love Project
c/o The Bair Foundation
3755 Library Rd # 3, Pittsburgh, PA 15234


So how can you be involved? Our bag drive will be open November 15 - December 15, 2016. We'll have 25 drop off locations including in Shadyside, Lawrenceville, Robinson, North Hills, South Hills, Monroeville, Washington, Cranberry, Grove City + more! Come over to our event page where you can RSVP that you're participating, post questions and see when we share the best deals around town.

Know anyone who lives in Minnesota? We're doing a drive there as well! See the MN info here.


For local friends, Uno Pizzeria & Grill is graciously hosting a Kick-Off party on our opening drive day of Tuesday, November, 15, 2016. If you bring a filled Foster Love bag, you'll get a $10 Uno gift card (per bag!!). Kids also eat FREE (one kids meal per adult entree). Kids can participate in make-your-own-pizza, a free craft from 5-7pm and each child will go home with a treat bag. AND.......20% of each check who mentions Foster Love Project will be donated to our nonprofit. It doesn't get much better than that, does it? Go here to see our Uno event page and RSVP.


  Thank you to Chick Fil A Pittsburgh who has been a very generous supporter of  the Foster Love Project and are covering the sponsorship of this post. I am taking no profit personally, all monies go directly to help spread the word of help needed for foster youth and foster families.  

Want to learn more about our foster care journey? Read some of my other posts here and here.

3 comments:

xqueenofcupcakesx said...

Do all of the items have to be new such as clothing or stuffed animals?

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know if all items need to be new as well--such as the clothing/blankets/books/animals. etc. I have tons of stuff that is like new that I would be willing to donate in with my bags that I arrange.

kellyH said...

Yes, for these bags we want everything to be new for them. If you follow the Foster Love Project page, I often post requests for new foster placements where we take gently used items. But for these bags, during such a traumatic time, we want it to be extra special.