Doin' it for the kids

You know, it's people who do things off their own bat for others, expecting squat in return, who make this big old world keep on a turning for me.
One of those people is the loverly Despina who has set up Backpacks 4 Aussie Kids.
Her and her partner have been looking into becoming foster carers and in the process she had a fantastic idea. You see when kids are taken into foster care they quite often leave their home with little more than the clothes on their back. And as awesome as it is that there are people out there who provide refuge for kids in need they are still scared as all get-out in their new environment. So Despina is putting together backpacks containing underwear, jammies, toiletries, books, a soft toy, etc... so that foster kids have something they can take with them. I love that she thought of putting torches in the backpacks. Coz the dark is scary no matter your age and especially when you are somewhere you've never been before.
I explained the idea to our kids and thought we might make a donation on their behalf but the littles had a better idea (of course). They wanted to make up backpacks for kids their own age ("friends who need help" they termed them).
It was a great opportunity to talk to our kids about people who are less fortunate and explain the foster care situation as best we could. Then we shopped for their friends and they put together their little care packs with so much love and talked about how they hoped the kids who got their backpacks found a nice family to take care of them. My heart was friggin breaking (in a good, proud-Mama way). Our son even explained what he was doing to the checkout girl at Best & Less when he bought his little "friend" some socks and underpants.
So thanks Despina for letting us be involved in your kindness and providing a real solution for a real problem.
And I urge you to get involved too. You can make a donation (money or goods), buy a ready-made backpack or make up your own and send it on up to Despina. And pass it on.
Get over here and find out more.