By Peter Elacqua
Staff Writer
MARLBORO – Marlboro High School students Seth Goldstein, Brandon Lehner and Michael Lehner have been volunteering for the Maryland-based charitable organization Comfort Cases to collect donations for children in foster care.
Comfort Cases is a nonprofit organization based in Rockville, Md., that provides newborns through 18-year-olds who are in the foster care system with essential needs and comfort items.
The organization primarily serves communities in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia with the goal of providing support to foster children across the country in the years ahead.
The young men said they became involved with Comfort Cases through Seth’s mother, Jennifer, who had previously worked with Robert Scheer, the founder of Comfort Cases.
Seth, Brandon and Michael reached out to Scheer and told him they were interested in helping children who are in foster care in New Jersey. The result of their interest was a donation drive for Comfort Cases.
In Marlboro, the trio requested donations of backpacks, books, pajamas, stuffed animals, blankets, coloring books and toiletries. The items the students collected were packed in backpacks and small duffel bags.
The goal for the drive was to acquire enough donations to assemble 50 Comfort Cases. Seth, Brandon and Michael said they were able to put together 93 Comfort Cases after sorting the donations they received.
“It was a rewarding experience to help this organization and to see the support that came from so many people,” Michael said.
“It was great to see how we were able to get our community to come together and reach our goal,” Brandon said. “Rob Scheer’s story was inspirational and motivated us to help his organization.”
“It was an amazing experience and I am very proud to be a part of helping Comfort Cases,” Seth said.
The young men said they are planning to hold another donation drive for Comfort Cases in the near future.
Comfort Cases is the charity Scheer’s family founded in October 2013.
“The concept of Comfort Cases originated from my family and my colleagues brainstorming together about a meaningful holiday project we could do in our community,” Scheer said.
“As we talked about my experience in the foster care system, the idea was born to assemble cases with specific items that would have made a difference for me had I received them when entering foster care,” he said.
Scheer said the organization has delivered more than 20,000 Comfort Cases to children in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
“Our mission is to provide comfort and dignity to children entering the foster care system and to other at-risk youth,” Scheer said. “We accomplish this goal by packing and distributing overnight bags filled with essential and comfort items to meet the basic needs of these children and to bring some happiness into their lives. … Our charity provides a way for communities to come together and support the most vulnerable among them.”
Comfort Cases looks to youths in the community to serve as student ambassadors and to lead by example as a way to encourage their peers to become involved.
“Seth, Brandon and Michael are outstanding examples of the leadership and commitment we look for in our student ambassadors,” Scheer said. “The initiative these three gentlemen showed in organizing a packing party for Comfort Cases in their town yielded the admirable result of 93 complete cases that were able to be delivered to children local to their area.
“Not only are there 93 children who will have a smile brought to their face and some comfort brought to their lives in the midst of a scary transition, but there are now so many more people who have heard of Comfort Cases and are talking about the issues facing children in the foster care system and other at-risk youth. I am so proud to know these three gentleman and am so grateful to them for their support of our charity,” he said.