INTHEVUE.COM | MARCH 2026 63 in their niche – since they have hit maximum capacity in their storage space. “I’d love to move Bags of Love to a larger space where we could host volunteer workdays, quilting events, and where we could house a foster care clothing closet. However, expanding means we would need more financial partners and it would move us to a new tax bracket, in which we would need to hire a professional accountant,” said Alison. Even with challenges, the moments of providing those in need with safety overpowers all. “The most rewarding moments in this volunteer effort is carefully choosing all the items that go into every bag, knowing that this child will pull each item out and be surprised, excited, happy, and most importantly, that they will feel special and loved at a time when maybe they had only been feeling discarded or less than,” said Alison. “Every time they snuggle up in that quilt, that is included in every bag, they will feel protected. They will feel stitching and know that someone, somewhere sewed this quilt just for them, because they are worth it. That is Bags of Love, that feeling that you are worthy.” That’s the reason Alison and the Bags of Love WKY crew do what they do. If they can bring just a few moments of happiness to these kiddos when they are feeling down and discarded, it is all worth it. “The needs of children are simple, to be loved and cared for in a way that makes them feel safe and nourished,” said Alison. “We simply hope to be a small part of that, assisting foster families and all types of families in their efforts to provide healthy homes for their kiddos.” Alison feels that Bags of Love has made a big difference in the lives of a few very important children, and that is the goal. “This is not a grand effort, this is a small effort that affects a few on a grand scale. The children we support often have nothing, literally nothing, of their own. They are taken from a home where they probably had little and very often are not allowed to bring anything with them (usually for health reasons),” said Alison. “We give them back the ability to say, ‘This is mine and no one can take this from me,’ at a time when everything has been taken from them. This instills in them a sense of value and importance when they need it most.” Oftentimes, children in foster care move from foster home to foster home throughout their time in care. “I’ve heard so many stories of children taking their quilts from home to home. Even when everything else they received is lost, broken, used up, etc., they hold on to that quilt. It is, in story after story, the one constant in their lives,” said Alison. “If you could give that to a child, why wouldn’t you? My two oldest kiddos brought their quilts with them when they came to live with us. I was so happy to see they had received a Bag of Love in a previous foster placement.” Alison states that they could not do this without community support: through the donations, word of mouth, financial Dave and Alison Watson
