The holidays are a great time to give back to your community, and we are honored to share the news of an amazing charity called the Foster Love Project in Pittsburgh, where The Motherhood’s headquarters is located.
The Foster Love Project was started by Kelly Hughes of PGH Momtourage to raise awareness about helping foster children in the community. Kelly has been a foster parent seven times and knows firsthand how few resources foster children have when they are placed in a home, sometimes arriving with only the clothes on their backs and a couple of items in a garbage bag.
Kelly and the Foster Love Project are collecting donations to make “placement bags” so that case workers can easily give these children a bag of their very own to take to their foster homes. Kelly says, “It will instantly be something new and clean that they can call their own. A new blanket, a stuffed animal, some pajamas, a book of their own.” Each bag will be distributed by the Pittsburgh Bair Foundation and other local foster agencies.
Donations are being accepted at six drop-off locations in Pittsburgh between now and Dec. 31. Here are a list of items you can donate that will go toward a placement bag, or you can donate all of these to complete an entire placement bag!
- Small duffel bags (backpacks also accepted)
- Blankets
- Stuffed animals
- Pajamas (any size)
- Toothbrushes & toothpaste (fluoride-free or Toms of Maine brand preferred)
- Kid’s bath soap
- Books
- Diapers (any size)
If you can’t fill a placement bag, you can also purchase gift cards to local restaurants like burger or pizza chains. This can tremendously help foster families who often have short notice of a child arriving – a gift card can really come in handy at mealtimes! Gift cards to Walmart or Target are also helpful for foster families during times of transition.
Any gift cards can be mailed to:
Foster Love Project
c/o Three Rivers Grace Church
1028 Chartiers Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15220
For more information about drop-off locations, please visit the Foster Love Project Facebook page!
