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Morrell fills the bag with everything necessary for a birthday party, but it won’t be held at her house or, likely, the home of anyone she knows.
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Kelly Momsen, left, and Linda Stadsvold, of Winona, assemble birthday bags Wednesday with other Mothers of Preschoolers women at Living Light Church in Winona. MOPS will donate the birthday bags, about 70 total, to the Winona Food Shelf and the Galesville Area Food Pantry.
(Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News)
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Morrell and about 30 other Winona Mothers of Preschoolers members created nearly 70 birthday bags Wednesday for children of area needy families. Members will soon deliver them to the Winona Food Shelf and Galesville Area Food Pantry. The women hope their efforts will allow local families to celebrate their children’s birthdays without worrying about the cost.
Wednesday marked the first time Winona MOPS put together the bags. Kari Marlee, creative activities director, suggested the idea after participating in a similar program elsewhere. Marlee saw the impact that effort had. Food shelf directors reported parents being so happy they cried when they received bags, she said.
The birthday bags take pressure off parents that are struggling financially and keep them from making a tough decision, she said.
“It’s like, ‘Geez, do you want to give your kid a birthday party or feed the family for a day?’” she said.
Several local churches and MOPS members donated the cake mixes, frosting and other contents, which were spread out on two tables in the basement of Living Light Church in Winona. The women’s children decorated the bags with colorful drawings, and their moms smiled and laughed as they selected just the right multi-colored slinky or shiny noisemaker to add to their sack.
grits wrote on Nov 20, 2008 7:23 PM: