Did you know that foster children often move their belongings in garbage bags? That’s why GCS employees volunteer their time each year collecting new or gently used suitcases and backpacks for Georgia’s foster children during GCS’s annual Totes 2 Tots suitcase drive.
Totes 2 Tots delivers new or nearly new backpacks and kid-sized suitcases to foster children in Georgia, many of whom must shuffle their belongings from home to home in garbage bags during frequent relocations.
The annual volunteer event was first launched by GCS in 2003 and has collected and distributed more than 27,016 bags. The 2011 event amassed more than 3,500 bags. Originally held on Martin Luther King Day as a way to honor Dr. King’s vision and give back to the community, Totes is now held on the Friday before MLK Day as a kickoff to a weekend of service.
GCS partners with the Division of Family and Children’s Services (DFCS) to distribute the bags in the counties in which they’re collected.
