#DuffleShuffle
So no child has to put their belongings in a trash bag during times of crisis and transition
Short on time or dance moves? Do the online version of the #DuffleShuffle by clicking below to make a donation:
How to do the #DuffleShuffle:
Should I stuff my duffle?
Sure! When it comes to duffle stuffing, you have options. If you are in the Greater Cincinnati area and choose to physically purchase and donate a new duffle bag, here are the most useful items to stuff in it:
- Gift cards (gas, pizza, Amazon, Kroger, Target, Walmart, VISA/MasterCard/AMEX, etc.)
- MP3 players and headphones or earbuds
- Art supplies (drawing/sketch pads, colored pencils)
- Books (fiction), journals, puzzle books, activity books
- Socks, underwear, undershirts (youth to adult sizes)
Please note, we only accept new donations; this allows us to serve youth in out-of-home care with dignity and efficiency.
If you’d rather stuff your duffle with money (and who wouldn’t want a duffle filled with that?!), click here to make an online donation.
Where do I drop my duffle?
You can drop off your duffle at the Devou Park campus of Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky during normal business hours (M-F, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Simply pull up to the front doors of our Administration Building and we’ll help you in with the donation. Want to give us a heads up? Call 859.292.4120 and we’ll make sure we’re ready for your arrival!
On a related note, we offer a tremendous THANKS to the local businesses and cities that served as Official Duffle Drop locations in 2017. You helped turn the #DuffleShuffle into a movement, and we’re so grateful!
Who gets the duffles (and other donations)?
Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky will first and foremost make certain that the kids currently in our care each receive a new duffle; we’ll also make sure to set aside enough to accommodate kids who will be coming into our care over the next year. The remaining duffles will be shared with other nonprofits who serve kids in out-of-home care in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati area, as well as Kentucky’s Department for Community-Based Services.
Monetary donations will support the work that CHNK does on a daily basis for kids who have experienced abuse, neglect, addiction, or other trauma. Your financial gift ensures that a child has access to a therapist on the cutting edge of trauma-informed mental health care … that we can offer therapeutic recreation opportunities to youth who need positive coping mechanisms … that a teenager in out-of-home care can go to bed for the first time in his life feeling safe and warm.
Whether you donate a duffle or dough, each and every gift is noticed, needed, and appreciated.
I'm not in the NKY/Greater Cincinnati area. Can I shuffle?
Absolutely! It’s not just youth in Northern Kentucky, Greater Cincinnati, or the surrounding areas who are in out-of-home care. This is a GLOBAL issue. While we would certainly love your support for the youth in our community, there are organizations across the country – and world – who also help abused and neglected youth; we’re sure they would appreciate duffle bags just as much as we do. To quote Hamilton: The Musical, this is not a moment, it’s the movement!
Child abuse and neglect are serious. Why are we shuffling?
You’re right – they are serious. So serious, in fact, that often folks will simply tune us out when we try to talk about the trauma that brings a child into our care. So we have to find ways to start the conversation without overwhelming people or making them feel like they can’t have impact. Because they can – you can. Even with a simple duffle bag.
I have other questions. Who should I contact?
For additional questions, or to get more involved with the Duffle Shuffle challenge, please contact CHNK’s Office for Development at 859.292.4135 or [email protected].
The Story Behind the Duffle Shuffle Movement
The number of Kentucky children in out-of-home care is at an all-time high – 8,795 kids as of March 4. And this is not just a Kentucky problem. We’re simply mirroring a national trend of more and more youth being removed from their families of origin due to abuse, neglect, or other trauma in the home. Children in out-of-home care spend, on average, one-third of their lives transitioning from one place to another. And they often have no option but to pack their belongings into trash bags as they’re moved from one placement to another.
Launched in 2017 during National Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month, CHNK’s Duffle Shuffle campaign encourages the wider community to help ease these moments of unanticipated disruption and uncertainty by donating new duffle bags to youth who would otherwise need to use garbage bags for their personal belongings. And if you’d like to stuff your duffle with some gift cards to help with other items our young clients need, even better!
Our hope is that the combination of your donations, dancing, and duffle bags will both encourage awareness for the plight of children in out-of-home care and provide them with a renewed sense of connection and community. We know our efforts are not a solution to ending child abuse and neglect, but our hope is that the Duffle Shuffle moves people to open their hearts and homes.
Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky is grateful for our collaboration with Untold Content, LLC and Barking Squirrel Media, LLC, the content and media creators who initially helped CHNK bring the #DuffleShuffle campaign to life.