Crown Club compiles bags for foster children

In cases where a child is in immediate danger, they may have only ten minutes to grab essential items before being taken from their home and put into the foster system. Many times, they only have a trash bag for their personal belongings.

Earlier this year, Mary Culipher Stephens, a Crown Club of Clinton member, requested to lead a new service project. She wanted to help foster kids entering the system by creating backpacks and duffel bags filled with essential items, a blanket and a stuffed animal, in hopes that it might make their transition a little easier.

Crown Club of Clinton conducted their first Foster Care Bag Service Project in May 2025 for National Foster Care Month and collected 57 filled bags. They also collected lots of additional items that were also donated.

Crown Club decided to do their service project again for November, since November is National Adoption Month. Teenagers make up about a quarter of the children in foster care and are also the least adopted. The young ladies worked for the month of October collecting donations, and recently donated 88 bags – plus additional essential items – to Methodist Children’s Home.