OLATHE, Ks — Morgan Forshee, 14, is paying it forward by fundraising for and creating "Bags of Blessings."
She works to fill the bags with with food, socks, gloves, hats, water and hygiene products. To raise the funds needed to purchase these gifts, she makes crafted leather earrings to sell.
“I love to be artsy, so I like to use that in other ways,” Morgan said.
Her father Ryan Forshee says Morgan came to him with the idea last October. He always knew his two kids had compassionate hearts, but he was doubtful she would be able to pull it off.
“I’m wondering, 'How in the world are you going to pull this off?'" Ryan Forshee remembers thinking. "There was a little doubt for me, but she was adamant that she was going to figure out how to do this."
Morgan was not about to allow the doubters to be right.
What started out as 50 bags quickly turned into a new goal of 1,500 bags. She says they have delivered an additional 200 bags since, with about 1,300 left to go.
“The whole point of this is to make people feel like they matter and that they’re loved,” Morgan said. “It’s just kind of emotional altogether. Different emotions, because it makes me happy to see just how positive some of them are with nothing, but it’s also kind of sad to know that they don’t have family or where their family is."
The kindness does not stop with Morgan in this family. Her 11-year-old brother Kai is following closely behind his sister.
“Once I saw Morgan doing this, it just inspired me to help her,” Kai said. “I also wanted to help them even more, because if you help them even more, maybe they can find a home.”
Their father says supporting his kids have taught him and his wife a life lesson, too.
“It’s easy for adults to have recognized the color of somebody’s skin, the backgrounds in which they come from… Judgements are passed so easy and we take for granted the things we have in life," Ryan Forshee said. "These kids don’t recognize those things that we take for granted as things other than as gifts. They truly see the positive in the people that they interact with."
The three say it is important for all to stand in the gaps of our community, and pay it forward.
“It’s made me very happy just to see all the progress that we can make so quickly and just see their reactions and how other people have helped out,” Morgan said.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Morgan's on-going project.
