SCRANTON — A Catholic parish in North Scranton is accepting items to provide support and comfort to foster children in the area.
Mary, Mother of God Parish has partnered with the Lackawanna County Office Youth and Family Services to collect new items for children in foster care. The collection started last month on Ash Wednesday and will conclude this weekend, on Palm Sunday.
Items being accepted include hygiene products such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, towels and feminine hygiene supplies, clothing of all sizes, baby items such as diapers, wipes, pacifiers and rattles, as well as backpacks, night-lights, books, puzzles, stuffed animals and duffel bags.
Each year, the parish’s Community/Service Coordinating Team holds a collection during the Lenten season. This is the first year they are asking for donations for foster care children — an idea inspired by team member Lauren Roberts, who has been a foster parent for four years. She said in her experience, having familiar things, particularly toys and coloring books, gives children comfort during a stressful moment. Providing them backpacks allows them to put their belongings into something more dignified than a trash bag. Diapers are also needed.
“I think those comfort items, the backpacks or the duffel bags, certainly give them a sense of dignity when they’re leaving, that they’re taking their things in an actual bag,” Roberts said.
She said donations of any items are accepted. Roberts said having an abundance of things like diapers, bottles, pacifiers and clothing is good because of how frequently children go through them. It also gives them more selection.
Diapers are among many of the donations collected in the rectory at Mary Mother of God Parish in North Scranton Friday, March 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Jerry Booths, case aide for Lackawanna County’s Office of Youth and Family Services, packs his vehicle with donations outside of Mary Mother of God Parish in North Scranton Friday, March 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Diapers are among many of the donations collected in the rectory at Mary Mother of God Parish in North Scranton Friday, March 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Jennifer Pitts, the team leader, said Roberts’ experience as a foster parent gave the team insight into what children in foster care need. She said the parish has been very generous with donating items during the collection.
“As soon as our parish finds out that someone is in need they’re very quick to help,” Pitts said.
Many of the items filled a meeting room in the parish rectory. On Friday, Jerry Booths, a social service aide for the Office of Youth and Family Services, collected the items.
Kerry Browning, the office’s director, said she was shocked and excited when Booths pulled in with a van filled with the items.
“Whenever I’m involved with a collection for something, I try to put myself in the people’s shoes that will be receiving that, and I think that the people of this church community certainly did that,” Browning said. “I think people just put their unique perspective on what they think a child in foster care might need and they did a great job of that.”
Browning said the donations are especially helpful for the office as it allows staff to provide children with items right away. She said the products donated so far will help children of all ages and give them comfort.
“For children that we work with prior to placement in foster care, or for children who come in to visit with their families that we help to provide visitation, if there’s a need that we know, we’ll have things available to help meet that need,” Browning said. “I think it’s really special that the community is now recognizing these needs and saying that we can do something to help with this.”
The parish is part of the Diocese of Scranton. Its worship site is Holy Rosary Church.
The team is accepting items through Sunday. They can be dropped off at a collection table in the church during Mass or at the Rectory at 316 William St. during regular business hours.
Anyone with questions or needing information about the collection may call the church at 570-342-4881.
Pitts said the donations show children in foster care that someone cares about them, while Roberts said they remind the kids they are not alone. The donation is an opportunity to help children going through a hard moment in their life, she added.
“I think it’s just a small comfort in a very uncertain situation for them,” Roberts said. “This gives them something to hang on to, something that they call their own and just let them know that kindness is coming, it’s going to be OK. This is our opportunity to show them an act of kindness and their opportunity to receive it.”