Region 5 Packs “Luggage of Love”
High school students combine form, function, and foster care
Take an old piece of luggage, a paintbrush, some brightly colored paints and what do you get? If you are a Port Neches-Groves (PNG) High School art student, the answer is "Love."
As part of a community service project with Child Protective Services, students at PNG created one-of-a-kind gifts for children in the foster care system. They called these gifts "Luggage of Love."
Foster children often have very little to call their own, and they often use trash bags to transport their meager belongings. This can be embarrassing and potentially harmful to a child's self esteem. But, armed with some gently used hard-shell luggage and art supplies – all donated – the PNG students gave some foster children small, practical pieces of art to call their own.
The students displayed over 50 of these suitcases at Central Mall in nearby Port Arthur as part of an art show and contest. Another student, who had shot a documentary about the "Luggage of Love" project, screened the video while the suitcases were on display. The brightly decorated bundles were then loaded up on a school bus and transported to Buckner's Children Village and received by foster children of all ages.
