First items for children arrived Sept. 11

On Sun., Sept. 11, the Westlake Village-based My Stuff Bags Foundation delivered the first planeload of My Stuff Bags, duffels filled with things children need and love, to youth displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The privately funded flight landed in Gulfport, Miss. to deliver more than 400 bags to children through local community churches.

“It was a joy to see the smiles on the faces and the light in the eyes of the children receiving the bags,” said Janeen Holmes, foundation president, who accompanied the flight and coordinated distribution of the bags. “We hope these bags will be the first of many thousands.”

The program addresses some of the immediate physical and emotional needs of children displaced due to disaster, as well as abused, neglected and abandoned children. These children often enter crisis care with none of their belongings. Each child is provided a clean, new “My Stuff” duffel bag containing a variety of new items they can call their own, including clothing, toys, books, games, school supplies, stuffed animals, toiletry items and a soft, cuddly “security” blanket.

By providing new belongings and a bag to carry them, My Stuff Bags help these children feel as much like other children as possible, restoring their self-esteem and lessening their sense of loss.

“We want the bags to not only give the children some muchneeded ‘stuff’ but also to carry the message to each child that lots of people care about them,” said Holmes.

Originated in 1999, the program is a national grassroots effort supported by thousands of individuals, schools, churches, children’s groups, nonprofit foundations and corporations providing donations of new children’s items and cash to purchase and ship the bags.

Hundreds of local volunteers and some from as far away as Texas and Hawaii donated their time to stuff the bags at the foundation’s volunteer center in Westlake Village.

The foundation is seeking donations of cash and children’s items and volunteer “stuffers.”

For more information, please visit www.mystuffbags.org.