NEEDED BUT FORGOTTEN
Founder: Alisha Gupta
Marketing: Adarsh Gupta
Supplying foster children with suitcases for smoother transitions from home to home.
DONATE TODAY!
Want to help NBF in another way? You can donate straight to the organization with our GoFundMe fundraiser. Help us reach our goal and provide foster children in over 15 shelters durable suitcases for smooth transitions. The new suitcases will be provided from Alibaba suitcase suppliers in China and will be delivered directly to the shelters we partner with!
Needed but Forgotten at a glance.
LIKE THE FOSTER CHILDREN, THE SUITCASES ARE "NEEDED BUT FORGOTTEN."
OUR MISSION
Foster children will not go unnoticed.
A foster child moves homes an average of seven times. Seven new homes. Seven new schools. Seven new sets of friends. As though the circumstances that placed them in foster care weren’t bad enough, these children, half of whom are under the age of 10, have little they can call their own. And the little they own - clothes, toys, books and toiletries - are often thrown into a plastic garbage bag. Welcome to the world of the growing population of foster children in the U.S. While taxpayers spend over $22 billion annually on foster care programs, most of these funds go to maintain supply the bare minimum, with very little left for the treatment, prevention, or family support of foster children. As a result, normal amenities are an afterthought. Carrying their belongings in garbage bags from home to home every few months is a drag on both their bodies and their self-esteem.
Needed But Forgotten was launched to grant foster kids across the US the normal life that every child deserves, through the much-needed suitcases. The program was piloted in 2015 and I aimed to leverage excess and closeout manufacturer inventories of suitcases to help improve the lives of foster children nationwide. Like these foster children, the suitcases are “needed but forgotten.” When Samsonite agreed to deliver thirty suitcases to three foster agencies in the Bay Area, the program proved successful and necessary. Andre Chapman, founder of the Unity Care foster agency thanked us by saying that “these suitcases will definitely fill a need for our most underserved youth.”
PUBLIC SUITCASE DROP-OFF
MONETARY DONATIONS
CORPORATE SUITCASE DONATIONS
FOSTER AGENCY PARTNERSHIP
One Step at a Time
Needed but Forgotten has a goal to reach the lives of as many foster chidlren as possible. Partnering with foster agencies allows our organization to help supply these children with the often neglected yet neccessary suitcase. Transportation of suitcases to the foster shelter will be provided. Unity Care and Families for Children were happy recipients of our first donations, aiding 30 children around the Bay Area, and your children can gain from our services as well. We would love to be your partner in helping this underepresented faction of our community.
Towards a Good Cause
In 2015, Samsonite became our first partner and piolted the suitcase donor program with a donation of 30 suitcases to 3 foster agencies around the Bay Area. You can follow in their footsteps as well. We are looking for any suitcase company to join the cause and leverage your closeout and excess manufacturer inventories of suitcases to help improve the lives of foster children. Contact below to get in further contact with our organization to see exactly where your valuable suitcases will be going to. Every suitcase changes the life of a child in need.
(Coming Soon)
Money donated is used towards purchasing usable suitcases for chidlren at foster shelters. Providing a place for all these children to store their few prized belongings is a priority Needed but Forgotten aims to achieving. Any donation, large or small, will be well used towards this mission.
Helping The Community
At Needed But Forgotten, we collect all suitcases in good condition (zippers and wheels working). In the past, Needed but Forgotten has only reached out to corporate suitcase companies as donors, but now we are opening it up to all. These suitcases will be delivered to foster children around the Bay Area to give them a sense of hope and belonging while traveling between houses. Please stay posted as we announce locations at which you may drop off your donations.
