BAGS OF LOVE COMFORT KIDS IN CRISIS

by Betty Kossick
“Kids really love the bags. They get so excited,” said Christina Gosch, an aide with Seminole County Child Protective Services, as she collected 20 Bags of Love in Apopka.
Bags of Love are lovingly created by Florida Living Retirement Community residents and Florida Living Church members with assistance from Forest Lake Academy students. Every four months, a group of volunteers puts 20 bags together to help children enduring a crisis such as abuse, neglect, poverty, homelessness, domestic violence, or an incarcerated parent.
The love bags, created to be age appropriate from infancy through 17, contain donated items such as a quilt, pillow with case, towel, wash cloth, and two small bags. One bag holds toiletry items, and the other holds such things as a flashlight, various toys and games, books, and stuffed animals.