Huffington Magazine Issue 21 | Page 107

Exit ments, at schools and Girl Scout troop meetings. Gori made it a point to ask children themselves what they thought would work well in an Adventure Bag. “We’ve had children in there [at stuffing events] who I did not know at the time were actually foster kids, and they gave me the idea to put journals in the bags. A little boy wanted journals ‘so we can write our personal thoughts down.’ Those was his words specifically,” Gori says. “They came up with all sorts of fun things a kid would, you know ‘an MP3 player would be great’ and I’m like sure I’d like one too, but you know,” she trails off, laughing. A well-wisher from Amarillo, Texas, sends Adventure Bags “encouragement cards” to place into the bags, and children have taken to writing them as well—a gesture for children, by children. The bags in demand the most are those for tweens and teens, the age groups that are most frequently ferried around the system. Gori estimates that her organization manages to churn out 50 bags a month, though more are always needed. GREATEST PERSON OF THE WEEK HUFFINGTON 11.04.12 WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE? Despite Gori’s successes with Adventure Bags, she remains frustrated. So far, they’re still waiting on the certification to become a 501C3, the lack of whic