College Student From Pryor Organizes Suitcase Drive To Help Foster Kids

A college student from Pryor addressed a need she discovered in her own community.

Serena Gray has a passion for helping kids, especially kids who face more challenges than most.

"I came across a lot of foster kids who didn't have suitcases to take from placement to placement, and so they had to resort to using either cardboard boxes or even trash bags," she said.

She organized a suitcase drive at Pryor Creek Sertoma Club to address one of the challenges many local foster children face. During the drive, she collected new and gently used bags.

"All of the suitcases and duffel bags will be donated to Mayes County foster care association so that they can be properly distributed to all of the foster children in our community," Gray said.

Mayes County currently serves 80 foster children and has served over 300 in the last year.

Serena interned with the local DHS office and other organizations, which led her to notice this problem in her hometown.

"I just know that this was something tangible that I could help with, and I decided that this would be a good way to help out the foster children in our community," she explained.

During her internship, she talked to a man who was in the foster care system as a child.

"He just told me how difficult it was to move from his home to a foster home and having to put his belongings into a cardboard box was just really traumatic for him," she said.

If you weren't able to make it to the drive, Gray said she is taking donations through July.

You can reach out to her at @carryinghope.sg on Instagram. She also said you can donate them at your local foster care office.