Suitcase of Hope 2009 - Foster Child
When children are placed in foster care, they are often forced to leave with little in the way of personal possessions and have only minutes in which to gather them. These children typically arrive at a carer’s home with precious few belongings in a black plastic garbage bag. The bag, and their meager belongings, will often go with them from foster home to foster home. As a foster care agency, Anglicare works hard to give these children a caring, supportive home. But we struggle to find the money to pay for the little extras that can help make a child feel valued, to help restore their dignity and self esteem.
And so, the Suitcase of Hope was born.
Guests at The Peet Op Shop Ball for Anglicare WA 2009 raised funds to support 127 children in care. Thanks to their generosity, each child placed in foster care received $500 to begin their own, personal Suitcase of Hope. This $500 provided a suitcase of basic toiletries, a towel and money to shop with their carer for new clothes, toys, shoes and other items all of their own choosing. Often for the first time in their life, they got to purchase something new, something that is truly their own.
Update
Suitcase of Hope - Foster Child has been a tremendous success with all of the 127 suitcases donated by guests at The Op Shop Ball 2009 distributed to children in case through our Fostering Futures program.
...and the legacy created by the Ball Community continues as schools and community groups take up the challenge to raise funds which allow Anglicare WA to continue the Suitcase of Hope - Foster Child program. Since the Ball funds for a further 30 suitcases have been raised for foster children. A truly wonderful result!
Make a Donation
If you’d like to make a donation to ‘Suitcase of Hope - Foster Child’, please call Anglicare WA’s donation line on 9319 6401.