Many Waikato children urgently brought into Child, Youth and Family care will no longer come empty-handed, thanks to the generosity of charity Foster Hope.
Originally known as Kits2kids, Foster Hope started in Auckland in 2010 and has spread to main centres throughout the country.
The group wants every child in care to know that their community cares about them, so they put together gender and age-specific backpacks for children taken in to care that contain the basics each age group needs.
Waikato Foster Hope coordinator Mirjam Sole first came across the organisation through friends in Auckland. She was immediately keen to be involved, so she started the Waikato branch at the start of last year.
Mirjam, her husband Jeff and friend Kellie Knight began fundraising and collecting the items for the backpacks.