Child Watch Christmas Stocking Project By Cassie Johnson
P
retend you’re moving into a new home: new surroundings, new views, and a new family. You won’t enter your new house with expensive luggage or even a suitcase. You’re embarrassed because the only thing you have is a garbage bag containing very few belongings. The volunteers of CASA of West Kentucky with Child Watch Counseling and Advocacy Center are working hard to ensure no child in the CASA program experiences this terrible feeling. “It’s traumatic enough that 80-85% of children in the system don’t get to bring any of their own possessions with them. If they are lucky enough to bring toys or blankets, they deserve something better than a garbage bag to carry them in,” said Liz Hansen, CASA Volunteer Coordinator with Child Watch Counseling and Advocacy Center.
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OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2021
The project began four years ago when the CASA Program Director at that time, Julie McKeel, knew something could be done for the children who had nothing to put their belongings in except a garbage bag. The wonderful volunteers in the community began sewing stockings to give them in order to carry their belongings properly. This act of kindness shows every child they are valued and loved. The first year a child is given an oversized stocking, the second year a pillowcase, and the third year a cinch bag or small backpack. To make it more meaningful, each pillowcase and stocking is embroidered with the child’s name. Hansen says, “This is something beautiful made just for that child. It belongs to them, and sometimes a feeling of belonging is what they
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