MILFORD | October 25, 2000 --Suitcases packed with goods for overnight needs are in store for displaced children in the region, under a local Make A Difference Day program.
Harborside Middle School's school-family-community partnership committee is collaborating with case workers at Boys Village on a project called Suitcases for Kids, said Peggy Kearney, spokeswoman for Harborside parents.
The project involves filling new and used suitcases, backpacks and duffel bags with personal items and donating them to children in the region's foster care system, homeless shelters, battered women's shelters and social service agencies.
Among the agencies that will benefit from the program are Boys Village and the Beth-El homeless shelter.
Boys Village, which houses a number of children in transition, is in north Milford and the Beth-El Shelter is blocks from Harborside.
To kick off the project, the new Wal-Mart in Derby donated $1,000, Kearney said.
Wal-Mart offers $2.7 million to Make a Difference Day projects through grants at each of its 2,500 stores. The Harborside project won the local grant, said Kristie Young, assistant manager of the new store.
"I think this is an opportunity for Wal-Mart to work with the local community and, as the name of the day says, make a difference," said Young.
Wal-Mart also makes local donations for Christmas, Grandparents Day and other events.
The public can get involved, too. The group will take donations from the public including suitcases, toothbrushes, toothpaste, backpacks, duffel bags, brushes and combs, soap, shampoo, socks, underwear, pajamas, children's books, hair decorations, teddy bears, towels, coloring books and school supplies.
"We want to get the word out and help as many children as we can," Kearney said when she announced the project.
Harborside students and their parents will fill the suitcases with the donated items in the Harborside cafeteria from 1 to 5 p.m. on Make a Difference Day, Saturday, she said.
The public can drop off donations for the program at Harborside School, 175 High St. Donation boxes have also been placed at many Milford businesses.
