Barnum Financial Group and the Foundation for Life, Inc. are leading a drive to provide hundreds of “comfort” bags to children who are away from home, either in a shelter, foster care, or are being hospitalized. This important initiative is gaining the support of local companies, government agencies, and individuals throughout the area.
“On any given day, there are nearly 437,500 youth in the foster care system in the United States. Of the thousands of youth who enter the system each year, most arrive carrying little more that the clothes on their backs. The same is true for children who move to a homeless shelter or take refuge in a domestic violence shelter”, says Joseph LoPresti, president of the foundation. “If they do have any personal items, they are often carrying them in a plastic trash bag.” The bags are also distributed to children in hospitals who need social services support. The Comfort Bag initiative was created from the belief that every child deserves to feel a sense of dignity. By providing a child with a real bag of their own filled with the essentials for good hygiene as well as items to entertain them, we can help that child feel better about themselves.
Foundation for Life, Inc. will be collecting items to create “comfort bags” throughout the month of July at the various Barnum Financial Group locations. The bags will be sent to the Connecticut Department of Children and Families who will give them to children being removed from their homes or in the hospital.
Contributors to the initiative include Connecticut Dental Health Partnership, The Dental Plan for Husky Health, Courtyard by Marriott Shelton, and Hampton, By Hilton. In addition, many Barnum employees and clients, as well as individuals from the community have donated needed items.
For people or companies interested in participating in this important initiative, we still need the following items to complete our sets of bag:
For Younger Children: Travel-sized baby soap, coloring books and crayons, new (with tags) stuffed animals
For Older Children: Travel-sized deodorant, colored pencils/pens, travel size conditioner
Items can be dropped off at any of the following Barnum Financial Group locations: In Connecticut - Shelton, Stamford, Glastonbury, and Guilford; in New York – Elmsford; in Rhode Island – Warwick. There is also a drop off collection point at Center Stage Theatre in Shelton, Connecticut accessible during their box office hours (Tuesdays through Fridays,10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.).