BY NATASHA ASHE
SALISBURY POST

China Grove residents and area veterans are working together to ensure every Rowan County child in foster care will have a suitcase to carry their belongings.

The China Grove Volunteer Summit for Children is collecting new or clean used suitcases, duffel bags, backpacks and book bags to give to the Rowan County Department of Social Services. That agency deals directly with foster children.

A young girl who saw foster children carrying their belongings in trash bags spearheaded the suitcase idea. Knowing the ordeal those children already were suffering, the girl wanted to help them maintain their dignity. Her idea caught fire and has spread into a national organization.

China Grove resident Jamima DeMarcus heard about the girl’s efforts and thought the idea would work in Rowan.

‘‘I thought, ‘Hey, that’s something we can do to improve the lives of children and young people to build self-esteem and show youngsters that we care about them,’|’’ DeMarcus said. ‘‘We also wanted to provide something they can use and take pride in.’’

Demarcus, a former county commissioner and China Grove’s lead delegate to the Rowan County Volunteer Summit, brought the suitcases up at the meeting last May at Catawba College, where 250 volunteers pledged to improve the lives of 2,000 young people by the year 2000. The Rowan County summit followed the national Summit for America’s Future, chaired by Colin Powell, and a later state volunteer summit.

Rowan volunteer leaders discussed everything from mentoring programs to new school initiatives. Delegations from many area municipalities have done their part to meet the challenge.

Veterans at the Salisbury VA Medical Center have joined the China Grove group in its suitcase initiative.

‘‘The veterans wanted to be apart of this too,’’ Demarcus said. ‘‘We are thrilled to have them help us out.’’

Gigi DeMarcus Bringle, a nurse in the Veteran’s Transitional Living Unit at the VA and another member of the China Grove delegation, thought it would be good to include the veterans and involve them in community outreach projects.

One of the local veterans has even recruited a group of veterans from Clemmons to assist with the project.

‘‘When you’re down and out, and you can give back to someone else, it makes you feel good,’’ Bringle said about the veterans. ‘‘I’m very proud of them.’’

Local veterans have helped the China Grove group in several of their projects, including recording children’s books on cassette tapes and attaching them to the backs of the books. The recorded voice on the tapes is that of a veteran reading the stories. A tiny bell sounds to indicate the change of the page, so that children are able to follow along. The books were distributed to area shelters and other places where children may be.

‘‘We have 19 residents (veterans) in our unit, and everyone helps,’’ Bringle said. ‘‘Part of our veterans’ rehab is re-socialization. The community work helps them get back out and get involved.’’

The VA is designated as one of the drop-off points for those who want to donate suitcases or bags for children. Veterans also are offering curb service pickup by calling 638-9000, extension. 4511 or 4531. They also clean the used bags and store them. So far, the VA has collected 88 bags.

Besides suitcases, the China Grove group is collecting stuffed animals to put in the bags. They have about 80 so far, most donated by youths who attended Teen Night at the South Rowan YMCA. The China Grove volunteers will donate any leftover stuffed animals to the China Grove Police Department to give to children that officers encounter in day-to-day cases.

Veterans are also cutting patterns from cloth donated by Cone Mills. The cloth will go toward smaller children’s bags.

The group plans to collect the suitcases until March 31. Donations may be left at any of the collection sites:

nIn China Grove: Municipal Building, 205 Swing St., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; the DeMarcus Home, 510 S. Main St.; and the South Rowan YMCA, 950 Kimball Road.

nIn Salisbury: VA Medical Center, 1601 Brenner Ave., Building 21. Veterans will pick up donations if you call 638-9000, extension 4511 or 4531.