By Jeff Peters
Catholic Herald correspondent

Parish donates household kits to help former foster children

PHILLIPS -- Needy young people released from foster care in Price County will now receive a household starter kit, thanks to the Our Lady of the North religious education program.

Religious education coordinator Sherrie Kandutsch said the starter kits will help people who literally "have nothing but the clothes they are wearing when they are released from the foster care program.

"These kits will give them basic housekeeping items," she said. The kits cost about $125 each and will include pots, pans, dishes, utensils and other cookware, a cookbook, blanket or sleeping bag, pillow, bedsheets, towels and washcloths. One large gym bag, a radio/clock, pen and notebook, small lamp, toothbrush and paste and sewing kit are also included.

"These kits would be given to the Price County Human Services Department to be handed out as needed," Kandutsch said.

Sherry McGee-Pesko, children and youth unit supervisor for Price County Human Services, said the kits would fulfill a great need. "I have seen advertisements for starter kits with dishes, cookware, utensils, bedding, towels and other necessary items, but the costs were so prohibitive, just a few kits would've taken most of my budget," McGee-Pesko said.

"Most of the young people the unit works with who are starting out on their own would not be able to afford to buy their own things, either, so I thought putting together basic housekeeping kits might be a good community service project," she said.

After hearing McGee-Pesko's idea for starter kits, Kandutsch sought the involvement of the parish. She said all 185 religious education students have the chance to be involved in the project.

"We won't force anyone, but we encourage them to become involved," Kandutsch said, noting the project would be part of the student's community service hours needed for confirmation. She said students could find many of the items at area rummage sales, such as the annual Our Lady of the North rummage sale held during the Fourth of July celebration in Phillips.

Kandutsch also said parish members Carol Kind and Alice Smith have helped organize the production of the kits. "They are making sure all of the items are in good shape and clean and fresh."

The kits will also be available to members of the community who experience the "tremendous loss" of a house or apartment fire. "These kits would have been helpful to those who lost their household goods when their apartments burned down earlier this year," she said.

"I think this is a very worthwhile project for our parish," said Kandutsch, who taught school for 30 years in Phillips and has been a lifelong member of Our Lady of the North.

Kandutsch noted a $1,000 grant from Phillips Plastics greatly helped get the project off the ground. "This company (Phillips Plastics) does a lot of good things for this area and with their grant we can buy a lot of things for the kits," she said. "This project will make a difference in people's lives."

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