Community Corner
Totes 2 Tots Suitcase Drive for Foster Children
Georgia Cancer Specialists partner with WSB-TV, DFCS to Collect Bags in Athens
On Friday, January 13, Georgia Cancer Specialists — a "Top 10" private cancer practice in the U.S. — will sponsor the tenth annual Totes 2 Tots suitcase drive for foster children. Twenty-five GCS offices across Georgia—including in Athens —will participate in the drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
"In nine years, we've collected and distributed more than 25,000 new or nearly new bags to Georgia's foster children," Public Relations Director Ryan Klee said in an e-mail to Athens Patch.
Totes 2 Tots delivers new or nearly new backpacks and kid-sized suitcases to foster children in Georgia—from infants to teenagers—many of whom must shuffle their belongings from home to home in garbage bags during frequent relocations, according to a press release by Ryan Klee.
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“Totes 2 Tots captures the spirit of Georgia Cancer Specialists and our practice-wide commitment to helping others," GCS Chief Operating Officer Dr. Wendy Hawke Lenz said in a news release. "By hosting the event to launch the Martin Luther King weekend, we believe that we honor Dr. King’s dream as we provide tangible reminders to the foster children in our state that someone cares about them.”
In 2005, WSB-TV recognized the importance of the drive and agreed to support it as a part of its Family 2 Family Project. This will be the eighth year that GCS and WSB-TV have partnered for Totes 2 Tots. Family 2 Family is the longest running locally produced, comprehensive, station-wide public service effort in Georgia. It includes shows such as People 2 People, a weekly half-hour public affairs program hosted by Jocelyn Dorsey that chronicles events and newsmakers in metro Atlanta.
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"The Department of Human Services is extremely gratified to all those involved with the Totes 2 Tots initiative," DHS Commissioner Clyde Reese said in a news release. "The program represents compassionate recognition of the trauma often involved for children impacted by the child welfare system.
Having a decent traveling case or overnight bag to carry a child's belongings may seem like a small thing, but, in reality, these totes contain not only quickly gathered items but the fears, uncertainties, hopes and dreams of children caught in a whirlwind not of their own making. I thank those who contribute and encourage all to consider being a part of this program."
The GCS-Athens office is located at 125 King Avenue, Suite 200. To participate, simply drop off a new or nearly new bag Friday, January 13, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the office.
