Project helps foster children bag worries

Shopping malls in five Iowa cities are collecting duffel bags in hopes of making Iowa foster children feel a little better about themselves. An organizer of the duffel bag drive says it can take something this simple to make a big difference in a foster kid’s life.Nikki Peterson is a spokeswoman for North Grand Mall in Ames, says most foster kids move an average of seven times before they turn 18. Every time they move, most of them put their few belongings in black garbage bags, since they don’t have luggage.Peterson says kids have said they feel like trash, like garbage, when they’re given a garbage bag to transport their belongings. She says the five malls are collecting new or “gently used” duffel bags for Iowa foster children through the non-profit group “Children to Children.”In addition to North Grand Mall in Ames, the duffel bags are also being taken in the center courts or at the customer service areas of: Marshall Town Center in Marshalltown, College Square in Cedar Falls, Westland Mall in West Burlington and Muscatine Mall in Muscatine. The collection drive will continue through Christmas Eve.