Bags Of Hope: Tulsa Church Aims To Support Oklahoma's Foster Kids

More than 7,000 kids are in the foster care system in Oklahoma, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tara Summers and other members of the West Tulsa Church are gathering items to help.

"Once you know the need, you can't walk away from it," Summers said.

As a former foster parent, Summers knows what some of these children go through as they're displaced from their homes.

"When kids come into your home, they come with absolutely nothing—just the clothes on their backs—and they need something that is theirs. I know a lot of the kids who are moved around carry their stuff in trash bags. That just breaks my heart to think of carrying all my belongings in a trash bag," Summers said.

That's why she and Devon Rogers started the Bags of Hope Drive.

"We want to make sure those children have something to call their own," Rogers said.

They worked closely with DHS to create a list of supplies to collect and fill duffel bags. Most items on the list address immediate needs, but it also includes items that bring comfort.

So far, they have collected items to fill 70 duffel bags. Their goal is to fill 360 before Christmas.

Rogers hopes people will pitch in to help.

"We know that these kids need hope," Rogers said. "When they get taken or placed in the foster care system, we know that all hope seems lost in that moment in their life, and so we just want to give them a little bit of hope."

If you want to help, the deadline to donate is the first week of December. Click here for more information.

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