Hundreds of bags filled with essential goods were loaded out of a U-Haul truck by volunteers to give to abused and neglected kids in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Just under 800 bags were unloaded from the truck by volunteers embodying the spirit of caring for some of the state’s most vulnerable children.
“It is pajamas, toiletries, a backpack, a pillow, blanket, comfort items, food, water and most importantly sometimes is a note of encouragement from another child to the child that’s being rescued,” K.C. Kilpatrick, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Geaux for Kids, told WVUE.
Kilpatrick said that when most children are taken away from their broken homes, they do not come with much in the way of essentials.
“When kids are rescued, they’re just rescued right then, and they’re coming with the clothes on their back, and they have seconds to get things together,” said Kilpatrick.
She was inspired to start Geaux for Kids after she had an experience with Louisiana’s foster care system where the one and two-year-olds she was fostering arrived with no belongings except a meth pipe enclosed in a Winn Dixie bag.
“I got mad. I got hot mad,” Kilpatrick said.
Not only did she get mad, she decided to permanently adopt the children and start the nonprofit.
The Geaux Bags and its contents cost at least $100 each, and Kilpatrick said the major financial backer for the bags is the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement.
Anyone wishing to donate to Geaux Bags can do so at their website.
Kilpatrick is not the only one changing foster kids’ lives for the better. The Prince William Police Department in Virginia decided to give a helping hand this holiday season to foster kids by donating $15,000 in gift cards to 120 children and adults.