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When my grandmother was 12 years old, she ran away from an abusive home and found a foster care system barely functioning.

With no one willing to take her in, she spent days in a juvenile detention center before finally finding a home. When she arrived at her new home, the first thing she had to do was change out of the state-issued clothes and into some clothes her foster mother had lying around. Her caseworker left, and she settled in, until a knock came on the door. It was the caseworker again, reluctantly forced to ask my grandmother for the state issued shoes she wore. Moving to a new home is already terrifying, and it exacerbates the pain when children have no personal possessions, such as new clothes for school. 

When I was 12 years old, I was much more caught up in school and friends than where my clothes came from. At that point in my life, I had taken part in a project called “hope totes” for 4 years. All the kids bought clothes, toiletries, and other necessities with their parents, then got together and filled bags to donate to foster kids. A few years later, my mom began organizing the creation of hope totes. When I was thirteen, I began to run our operations and we created 100-200 bags per year. I began to understand the connection between the work and my family heritage. These bags help kids in my grandmother’s situation; scared kids with nothing to call their own. 

I didn’t stop at bags. When the Covid pandemic canceled our usual shopping and filling operation I pivoted to turn my artistic talents into fundraising for PFC by auctioning original work. 

This year, I’ve jumped headfirst back into creating more hugs bags. As I’ve been working, a pleasant surprise came from my previous Facebook posts; a Facebook employee reached out to me and began bringing bags for global executives to decorate during conferences. They are surprisingly gorgeous bags depicting Strawberry Shortcake, Blue from Blue’s Clues, or a plethora of frogs! We also receive donations of stuffed animals from Cambodia Crocheting Sisters. They are an amazing organization supporting women and children in Cambodia. 

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My grandmother as a child

A very young Ella (taller of the two girls) dropping off bags with my sister and Marcus (who works at PFC!)

Creating hope totes is joyful work. Through it, I’ve gotten to know employees at the local Old Navy (where we do most of our shopping) who are kind, funny, and go the extra mile to help us get the best deals and make our money go as far as possible. I’ve had days spent with my family, outside in the blazing sun, working for hours to sort and bag hundreds of clothes; and with my friends watching movie adaptations of books by Jane Austen or Agatha Christie while we decorate and sort the bags we will later fill. 

If no one had helped my grandmother, I would not be a college-bound student who can serve foster children. I live such a normal, middle-class life that sometimes I forget I’m the daughter of first generation college students whose parents survived the foster care system. 

My family is a testament to the power of foster care and the importance of service. 

My bags alone are not life changing. They simply help relieve a small part of a foster child’s anxiety. However, every bit of support we pour into the foster care system helps kids escape poverty and abuse. 

I can’t change the world but I can certainly make sure foster children have clothes and are never in the same situation my grandmother was in. 

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