Help a Child in Need: The My Stuff Bags Foundation

Martha by Ford Buchanan (CC BY 2.0)

Teddy Bear MSB BagA child in need is heartbreaking. Did you know that every year more than three hundred thousand children move into the foster care system? Most of them will not leave until they age out. A child in need ranges from a baby in short term care to a teenager whose 18th birthday is around the corner. Abandoned without possessions, a child in need is provided the basic necessities – food and shelter – but little else.

Psychologically, a child in need requires more. There’s a great organization called My Stuff Bags that’s dedicated to putting something tangible into the hands of a child in need!BSA troop 164

The fastest way to help a child in need?

Donate, donate, donate! My Stuff Bags spends seven days a week preparing stuff for babies, children, and teens. They never run out of empty bags, but they always need more stuff to put in the hands of a child in need!

What do they need? Anything you could imagine meaning everything to a child in need who has nothing.

The stuff just has to fit inside a midsized duffel bag and all items must be new. A child in need has usually been abandoned and this bag may be the only new items he or she will ever receive.

Boy with Mu Stuff BagItems can include bought, knitted, crocheted, quilted or no-sew blankets, stuffed animals, toiletries, crayons, pens, journals, DVDs, baby stuff. For a child in need, almost any item is on their wish list. Imagine your most prized possession. The one thing you’d take with you to a deserted island to feel safe and secure. Something you’d look at and feel happy, even if it’s just for a second. That’s what a child in need needs from you.

People all over the country give whatever they can afford to help a child in need. My Stuff Bags has a great Facebook page with tons of sweet pictures and cool letters from kids who’ve donated things like their Lemonade stand money or allowances to help a child in need in order to show even one child in need that someone out there cares about them.

Have you ever done anything that helped a child in need? Consider donating to My Stuff Bags and show a child in need that someone is thinking about them.