About Us

First Presbyterian church had been collecting travel size hygiene items since before the early 2000s and donating them to those in need periodically. Members of the church were interested in putting hygiene bags together more often, and it became a quarterly event with donations to the Cleveland-Bradley Emergency Shelter. It soon evolved into a fellowship event of sorts, with delivery of hygiene bags immediately following assembly. In 2020, I completed my Silver Award project, Comfort Bags for Kids. Comfort Bags are designed to bring happiness and contentment to children in emergency or traumatic situations, and are filled with items like playdough, snacks, a juice box, a coloring book, stickers, a reading book, a small toy, a stuffed animal, and a pack of crayons or colored pencils. Through this project, I assembled and donated 100 bags to the Cleveland Police Department, both Bradley County and Cleveland Fire Departments, and the Bradley County Sheriff's Office Command Center for the tornado victims. Comfort Bags for Kids was a sustainable project, and the youth and members of our church have enjoyed assembling and donating bags regularly to Tennova, our local hospital. Since 2020, the ministry has grown beyond what I ever thought possible. Space for supply storage and an efficient packing area eventually became a need. The idea for Care Kits was born from this. I wanted to make an effort to reorganize and store donations in a central area in which efficient bag assembly could take place. The Hygiene Bag ministry was growing as well, and needed the same. I wanted my Gold Award project to encompass both missions, and so Care Kits for Cleveland was born.