5 to 10 year old LuvPak (supplied: Rebecca Hamm)

By Abby Zieverink

Non Profit organization

MyLuvPak provides filled backpacks for local children in need

Dec 7, 2021 | 1:57 PM

Grande Prairie non-profit MyLuvPak is looking to help local children in need this holiday season.

MyLuvPak puts together backpacks filled with comfort items to give to children across northern Alberta who have been rescued from threatening home situations.

Rebecca Hamm, Director of MyLuvPak says these backpacks are filled with a variety of items including toothbrushes, stuffed animals, art supplies, blankets, toys, and soap to help children who may have suffered loss emotionally, psychologically, and materially.

“We make backpacks for children coming into foster care and coming from different traumatic home situations, like kids dealing with poverty or homelessness or just a lot of awful situations and different circumstances,” she explained.

Hamm says she started the organization roughly four and a half years ago, for a few different reasons. One of those reasons included the adoption of her son roughly six years ago.

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“He (her son) was just over two at the time, and he did have some trauma in his background, and it really set me on a journey of learning about trauma and brain development and how trauma affects brain development and how trauma affects kids,” she said.

That initially sparked the idea to help children going through difficult times, alongside the support from her friend Ruth who became a foster parent at the time created a welcome basket for her first foster child, which initially sparked the idea of the filled backpacks.

“Just the thought and care that went into that (the basket) and the joy that it brought the little girl because often when kids are put into foster care, their stuff is thrown into a garbage bag and often they’re moved late at night, so what little they do have is thrown into a trash bag,” she explained.

“In combination of my son’s past and the situations that were happening around me I just kind of thought this is something I would like start in the Grande Prairie area.”

Hamm tells EverythingGP she works with Family Services in Grande Prairie and the surrounding community to help provide backpacks to youth children in northern Alberta, including youth assessment centres in Lac La Biche and High Prairie.

“(These youth assessment centres) are basically shelters with kids that have nowhere to go or have higher behavioral needs,” she said.

“It’s a little bit more clinical or institutional, so to be able to give these kids a LuvPak when they arrive that is their own and is a bag full of comforting items for them, is what our goal is.”

Hamm says they give roughly 400 backpacks a year to youth in the Grande Prairie area who are dealing with difficult situations.

“This year will be a little bit higher just because of the last year with COVID and things being shut down, I think the need is a little bit higher, over the last four years, we’ve probably given a little over 1,200 LuvPaks. I know I’m not able to fix the kids that are in these situations, but I wanted to be able to bring some joy, hope, and comfort to their lives.”

Residents can donate and help out in a few different ways, including donating items for the backpacks, money or any purchasing MyLuvPak clothing which sees 100 per cent of the profits raised put towards making these backpacks.

11 to 18 year old LuvPak (Supplied: Rebecca Hamm)