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  • Food at First
  • Suitcases For Success
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  • Abby's Story
  • Hailli's school project
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Suitcases For Success

                                                 Suitcases for Success
     

The Suitcases for Success program is primarily funded by 3M of Story County and includes donations from the local Ames community. The suitcases are meant to be helpful to AMP youth as they transition into adulthood and are filled with items that the youth will be able to utilize in their everyday lives. The contents inside the suitcases are: a blanket, a pillow, a set of sheets, a mattress pad, a comforter, two sets of a bath towel with a matching hand towel and washcloth, a bath mat, a set of oven mitts and dish towels, a can opener, a flash light, tooth brushes, tooth paste, a stick of deodorant, a bar of soap, a package of tissues, laundry detergent, a nylon laundry bag, and an alarm clock.  With the given donations, AMP was able to prepare 25 suitcases per year. 
 

Blanket Donations for Suitcases for Success 

Intertwine donated 35 blankets that were included in the AMP Suitcases for Success project!  These suitcases will be given to AMP youth as graduation gifts this spring or for youth transitioning to college in their own apartment in story county. 150 makers from across the United States and dozens of Iowa Counties contributed to making these blankets. Participants who helped make the blankets ranged in age from 9 to 93 years old, hailed from 14 states, and came from a variety of professional backgrounds, from retiree to student to artist to IT consultant to 4Her. The blankets donated began as an art piece that was displayed on the façade of Design on Main, an Iowa State University community gallery, located on 203 Main Street in Ames, Iowa. Over 1,000 square panels were added to the side of the building to give the appearance of a unique design. Below is a picture of the finished product. After the art piece was taken down, the squares were dry cleaned and then made into the blankets that were donated to the AMP (Achieving Maximum Potential) Program and to the ACCESS Shelter.     

Leadership Ames, a local community group, chose to sponsor AMP in their "Suitcases for Success" project this year and raised funds to fill 18 suitcases for youth graduating high school and YSS treatment programs in Story County on June 28, 2012.  During our regular bi-monthly meeting five youth received their suitcases and several more are getting theirs as they leave for college or begin life on their own as a young adult.  "You have no idea what this means to us," one AMP youth said as he thanked the Members of Leadership Ames, "my family has nothing and this gift is everything to me."  Another youth stated that it meant a lot for someone to take the time out of their busy day to help someone they didn't even know.

AMP youth were participants in a ceremony called, "Who I am makes a difference".  AMP members are encouraged to make a difference in the lives of foster youth in Iowa by improving the child welfare system from a youth perspective.  Group members shared with the graduates how each of them had made a difference in their lives and challenged them to tell others thank you for being the people who had made a difference in their lives.  It was a very moving ceremony.