BACKPACK PROJECT AIMS TO HELP FOSTER KIDS RUMMAGE SALE TO FUND EFFORT.

Byline: Sharon Cotal Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Wanting to help children in need, a group of local mothers will host a rummage sale Saturday to raise money to buy backpacks filled with school supplies, clothing, learning toys and a letter of inspiration for kids in foster care.

Eighteen families associated with the MOMS Club of Stevenson Ranch have donated clothing, baby items, toys, jewelry, cameras and some small furniture items for the sale to benefit the Department of Children and Family Services.

``There are so many children in our area who are in foster care, and we wanted to somehow touch the lives of these little children who have so much turmoil in their lives,'' said club administrative vice president Yvonne Grimm. ``We realized how fortunate we are to be able to stay home with our kids, and we just wanted to help.''

The MOMS Club is a national nonprofit support group for mothers who stay home with their children. It includes mothers who have home-based businesses and those who work part-time but are home with their children during the day. The Stevenson Ranch club has a diverse membership, with one stay-at-home dad and one grandmother.

The club holds group activities for moms and their kids, including children's play groups, arts and crafts activities and day trips to community events. The group also sponsors at least one charitable project related to children each year, and this year's choice was to help foster kids.

Grimm got the idea after reading startling statistics about the foster care program in the May issue of Parenting Magazine. In the past decade, the number of foster parents has fallen by one-third, while the number of children who need foster care has doubled, she said.

``When I read those statistics, I just thought, oh, those poor kids,'' Grimm said. ``The more you know, the more you want to help these kids.''

With the proceeds from the sale, club members will shop for backpacks and items to personalize each gift for a certain foster care child. Case workers will provide first names, clothing sizes and information about other needs so that each backpack can be filled with items specifically chosen for that child.

``We're going to specialize each backpack and give it personally to that child. We want to make it very special for them,'' Grimm said. The group hopes to raise enough money to fill about 50 backpacks.

The Rummage Sale will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Christ Lutheran Church, 25816 Tournament Road, Valencia. For information about the sale, joining the MOMS Club, or making a donation to the backpack project, call Michele Thompson at [phone].