CANOGA PARK (KABC) — When you think of a suitcase, you think of a vacation, right? For foster children who sometimes go from one home to another and then another, this piece of luggage has a very different meaning.
Normally, the children are given a trash bag to put their belongings in. But inside this San Fernando Valley luggage store, Los Angeles County foster children are given something they can call their own to store their personal belongings.
“It helps a child to feel like a child, like they belong, or have some belongings. So no matter where they move, these are things that are mine,” said Theresa Reed who works in foster care education at Pasadena City College. She herself was once in the foster care system.
The luggage program started a few years ago. Mark Stern and his family have owned H. Savinar Luggage, their Canoga Park luggage business, for more than 30 years when he was approached by L.A. County to help.