Our first delivery!

I am super excited to announce that our first round of Comfypacks will be delivered on Monday to our local Department of Social Services. My husband and I packed up 45 bags tonight. That means we have 45 left. I'm hoping to buy more blankets and extra items for the remaining bags and have them delivered by Christmas. I have at least 20 more handmade blankets on the way.

It was so exciting packing up the bags but also a little sad thinking about the kids. My husband made sense of the emotions by saying "Chandra, even if it just distracts them for a few minutes". Amen! I also got so excited thinking about them looking at the blankets. It was so fun making them and I hope they all have them for a very long time. Thank you to everyone who participated in the blanket challenge!!

Stay tuned - bigger plans lie ahead!! And I need all of you to help :)

Slowly but surely....

Update: Currently the dining room is filled with all of the empty backpacks but I'm hoping for not too much longer. With our first donation I'm hoping to purchase deodorants and other toiletries for the older kids packs. Also, I've picked up some crayons for the packs designated for the younger kids. I still need to pair them up with coloring books.

Also, a good friend has ordered fleece so she can start making some blankets. And another is sending a box of beanie babies my way. Woohoo! Things are starting to come together. I will keep you all posted on any additional progress.

It's somewhat discouraging because it feels like it's moving so slow. But if I've learned anything these past few years, it's patience. Stay tuned...

Welcome

Welcome to ComfyPack! There will be lots of tweaking over the next few days (or weeks) until I get everything just how I want it so bear with me. I am SUPER excited about launching ComfyPack and long-term goals include making this a 501c non profit organization, reaching out to back-pack retailers and continuing to expand to more and more social services offices (which means reaching out to more children). Plans may also include Christmas parties for the children and maybe other get togethers. Thank you for looking over and please, please send any feedback my way. I look forward to keeping everyone posted!

For those who have just linked to this welcome! ComfyPack is a new backpack with supplies for foster children after they have been removed from their very unfortunate living conditions and then placed into foster care. These children are taken from their homes and often times leave with only the clothes on their backs. Sometimes the living conditions are so horrible (poverty, drug abuse, etc) that there is nothing to take with them. Some are able to throw together a plastic bag of items but this is not always the case. Under these circumstances these children all deserve something that says "Hang in there. We are thinking of ya! You deserve this and so much more." A source of comfort and security in a time of great sorrow and devastation. The social worker said the children's faces light up when they see these backpacks because most of them have never received anything new. That's where we all come in...

I want to definitely put a fleece blanket in each of the bags because I personally LOVE having a blanket to curl up with. I am hoping for it to be somewhat of a security blanket for so many of these children. Those can be made at home with fleece you can find on sale (I prefer the smaller ones that roll up tight and will fit in the backpack or we can attach them to the outside). Along with that I want to put maybe a small doll, toiletries (deodorant, lip gloss, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc), crayons and coloring book and any other ideas we think of. We will separate the bags for the appropriate age groups. I am going to visit the local dentist for the toothbrush and toothpaste. And as things progress I have bigger and better plans for ComfyPacks!!


thank you,
Chandra