North Texas Woman Providing Suitcases To Foster Kids Who Keep Their Belongings In Trash Bags
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - At times, seemingly small gestures can be magnified when viewed through the prism of perspective.
Such was the situation in Grand Prairie when Kathy Adler put out a call for secondhand suitcases.
"My daughter is a foster parent," said Adler, "and she kept seeing that they were bringing their clothes in a trash bag... and it just doesn't feel right for a child to have their belongings in a trash bag! It's just not right."
No question, Adler was bothered.
"There's something about a trash bag... you look at it and you think, that's trash. Well, who owns it? Then they're trash, and you make this association and it's just not acceptable. It just makes me sick... the one thought of a heart looking at that trash bag," she said.
So, Adler decided to do more than be bothered. She got busy working to do something about it, putting out a call on the neighborhood social media app NextDoor. The response from her neighbors has left her stunned.
"My phone is blowing up, my text, my email... is blowing up!" she exclaimed. "They're calling me faster than I can pick them up!
Nearly 100 suitcases donated in just a couple of days. Adler says one neighbor even shipped her a new one from Amazon. She plans to deliver the donated bags to several local foster agencies.
"My heart is overflowing," said Adler, "I can't believe there are so many generous people in Grand Prairie."
Like so many families, the Adlers decided to cancel their large Thanksgiving gathering, and she admits that she'd been feeling down. Things turned around, though, when she began to focus on others, she says.
"Any time you help someone else, it just makes your heart want to melt. I mean it's just exactly what you need for being depressed during covid," Adler said.
By early afternoon, the van she'd borrowed to deliver the donated bags was stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey. And the same can be said for Adler's heart.
"I can imagine the smiles on their faces when they see something important--and they feel like a traveler now! They have this beautiful suitcase and it'll make them feel special and important --and that's really what it's all about," she said.
For information on making a donation, email Fostersuitcases@gmail.com.
