{"id":167453,"date":"2026-04-16T11:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T11:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/167453\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T11:34:10","slug":"upper-darby-marine-auxiliary-collecting-items-for-childrens-comfort-bags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/167453\/","title":{"rendered":"Upper Darby Marine Auxiliary collecting items for children’s comfort bags"},"content":{"rendered":"

After getting a call that the supply was low, the Upper Darby Marine Corps League Auxiliary jumped into action to fill up more comfort bags for children in distressful situations.<\/p>\n

Erika Krautheim, the Upper Darby Marine Corps League Auxiliary senior vice president, explained that the auxiliary first assembled the bags a few years ago after donating 40 bags to the Upper Darby Fire Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it\u2019s been roughly four years we\u2019ve been doing it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe went through first Upper Darby Fire Department when Chief (Derrick) Sawyer was there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, the call came again.<\/p>\n

\u201cA week or two ago, they actually called and said they had gone through all of them and they requested more of them,\u201d Krautheim said.<\/p>\n

So, the auxiliary started their work and now, they\u2019ve doubled their load with the goal to make 80 of the bags.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thought behind it is it\u2019s for a child in need of any kind,\u201d Krautheim said. \u201cThe bags are going to be multi-purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe children\u2019s comfort bags are lined up and ready to be distributed. (COURTESY OF ERIKA KRAUTHEIM)<\/p>\n

She said the idea is that they can be kept on the firetrucks and ambulances so that when the firefighters and emergency personnel arrive at a scene and there\u2019s a child involved, they can give one to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Red Cross is such a wonderful organization, but it takes them a little bit of time (to get to a scene),\u201d the auxiliary member said. \u201cWe want these bags to be readily available to the first responders. That way, if there\u2019s a fire in the middle of the night, they can have them to give out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krautheim said that when Crozer ambulance was active, the auxiliary provided bags for the Crozer units and now they are outfitting STAT Medical Transport with the goods.<\/p>\n

She explained that the bags are for any child, regardless of gender or age.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody from 0 to 18,\u201d Krautheim said. \u201cIf they\u2019re in need, they have them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bags include a 50-inch by 60-inch blanket in solid primary colors, coloring books, crayons from eight to 24 packs, stress toys that do not contain liquids, new stuffed animals about 12 inches tall, a journal such as a composition book or a spiral notebook, pens, travel size toothbrush and toothpaste, travel size comb or brush, travel size hand wipes and small toys such as cars or a finger skateboard. All is placed inside of a 15-inch to 17-inch backpack.<\/p>\n

Each bag contains a note that reads, \u201cWe hope you like your comfort bag. This bag was put together with love to let you know you are being thought of. We hope that this bag helps you during this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is then signed \u201cFrom our hearts, The Upper Darby Marine Corps League Auxiliary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ItemsItems inside the comfort bags include coloring books, blankets and a stuffed animal. (COURTESY OF ERIKA KRAUTHEIM)<\/p>\n

The bags don\u2019t have anything perishable in them like snacks so that they can be stored in vehicles until they are needed.<\/p>\n

Krautheim said the auxiliary is hoping to expand the comfort bag programs to police departments.<\/p>\n

She recalled a Collingdale friend who was coming home from work and saw a kid who was walking around in a T-shirt and diaper.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years, you see the police, they are picking up nonverbal children,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t know how to get in touch with the family. This gives them something to keep the child occupied until they find them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shared some of the first responder response.<\/p>\n

After gifting the Crozer ambulance 40 comfort bags, Krautheim said, \u201cThe paramedics themselves were just ecstatic for the support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PastPast Upper Darby Fire Chief Derrick Sawyer, left, receives one of the comfort bags from Upper Darby Marine Corps League Auxiliary members Erika Krautheim, second from right, and Rebecca Dengel a few years ago. (COURTESY OF ERIKA KRAUTHEIM)<\/p>\n

And, the community can get involved as donations can be dropped off at the Burhill Hardware at 526 Burmont Road in Drexel Hill. or they can shop the auxiliary\u2019s Amazon list here<\/a>. They also accept monetary donations for the supplies.<\/p>\n

In addition, the auxiliary continues to send care packages to the troops, which they\u2019ve been doing since 9\/11. Krautheim said all anyone needs to do is give Burhill Hardware the name and address of their military person for that service member to be put on the package list.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the care packages, we try to send snacks,\u201d Krautheim said. \u201cRight now, we started sending Dungeons and Dragons dice. We were getting feedback that they use that for therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WhenWhen the Crozer ambulances operated, their parademics carried some of the comfort bags from the Upper Darby Marine Corps League Auxiliary. (COURTESY OF ERIKA KRAUTHEIM)<\/p>\n

Then, those who have received them will visit the League when they return stateside.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely something that\u2019s close to our hearts,\u201d Krautheim said. \u201cThey come in and thank us. It\u2019s always nice to hear from them. It\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After getting a call that the supply was low, the Upper Darby Marine Corps League Auxiliary jumped into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[212,182,139,28,210,147,149,148,150],"class_list":{"0":"post-167453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upper-darby","8":"tag-delaware-county","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-top-stories-dtd","13":"tag-upper-darby","14":"tag-upper-darby-headlines","15":"tag-upper-darby-news","16":"tag-upper-darby-township"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}