DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A local nonprofit that helps children in the Georgia foster care system is helping those kids, one suitcase at a time.
For too long in Georgia, many foster children moved from family to family without a sense of dignity.
It’s an issue impacting thousands of children in the state. According to recent figures from the Georgia Department of Human Services, there were 10,674 children in foster care as of July 2023.
“These children would transfer their personal belongings in a trash bag. As we know, a trash bag brings a way of feeling disposable,” Darrell Dobey told Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen.
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Dobey is the CEO of Totes to Tots. Now in its 22nd year, the nonprofit provides suitcases, backpacks, and diaper bags to children in the state’s foster care system, as young as infants to as old as teenagers.
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Brittney Sherell says self-esteem is something you take with you wherever you go. Sherell spent 10 years in foster care.
“Being able to put your belongings in something that can move with you is one of the greatest feelings in the world,” Sherrell said.
On Friday in DeKalb County, the charity’s partners helped launch their annual backpack and suitcase drive.
Many will be filled with essentials the children need. The state’s Department of Human Services will distribute them.
Over the last two decades, Totes to Tots has collected more than 80,000 supportive care items. Sherell told Channel 2 Action News it’s much more than just a suitcase.
“Just that feeling that somebody sees me. Somebody thought of me enough to give me my own bag. That says it all. These people really care,” Sherrell said.
You can learn more about Totes to Tots online.
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