Who Receives Our Bags

Child Crying

Because the demand is so great, it has become necessary for us to prioritize agencies that receive our bags based on (a) the immediacy of the need, and (b) the availability of other philanthropic groups to serve the need. Our first priority is to those groups or agencies that are responsible for actually removing children from their living situation for their own safety, such as domestic violence, drug use or neglect by adults in the household. Sadly this happens to approximately 40-50 children in the area each month. In the Eugene-Springfield area, these agencies currently include:

  • Kids First
  • WomenSpace
  • Lane County Sheriff’s Office 24-Hour Response Team
  • Springfield Police Department
  • Department of Human Resources

The second group of providers includes those groups or agencies that place displaced children in temporary foster care (if the child has not already received a Bag of Love from the first responders above). They include:

  • CASA of Lane County
  • Birth-to-Three
  • Healthy Start

Bags of Love, Inc. tries to fill these needs if we have met the needs of the first and second responders and still have resources available. Thankfully, there are several other charitable organizations in our area, like Toys for Tots® and the United Way® who also work with these needs. We have provided bags to:

  • EC Care
  • Headstart of Lane County
  • Relief Nursery
  • Brattain House
Custom-made Quilt

“A spontaneous, yet warranted decision was made to remove 2 children from their current foster family and place them in the care of more appropriate foster parents. The young children were not able to return to their residence and were picked up from their schools and told about the transition. The news was softened with the gifts from Bags of Love which provided necessary items and comforting items to these children. Their faces lit up with excitement, and they felt safe and cared for. The bags and the compassion that they were created with made a potentially difficult situation much more joyful." The children's new foster mother shared, "They sleep with their stuffed animals every night. We established a bedtime ritual involving the animals and the books that were in the bags of love. Their transition to our home was made easier with the love that they felt from the gifts in those bags.“

—The Child Center