Company giving away bags to children living in Flint

State Bags based on one-for-one model

FLINT, Mich. – Contaminated water put flint in the national spotlight, but some feel the city is still being overlooked.

A company based in New York is purchasing backpacks for children in Flint.

"We always strive to find communities that could use love and support," said Scot Tatelman, State Bags founder.

Tatelman and his team are spreading love and support to people who need it the most and they're doing it one bag at a time.

"We started seeing a recurring theme of kids carrying their stuff in trash bags and so we just wanted to do more," he said.

Scot started State Bags based on the one-for-one model for charities. For every bag they sell, they give a bag to a child in need somewhere in the United States.

The company has given away more than 100,000 bags in Miami, Los Angeles, Brooklyn and Chicago. This year, they chose to focus on children living in Flint.

"Flint, Michigan has always been for me a place I wanted to work in," he said. "I remember seeing the documentary 'Roger and Me' and I remember thinking I can't believe this is happening in our own country."

Scot said he picked Flint because he felt children there continue to be overlooked.

"We are four years in, and these kids, these families and these communities are still dealing with this," he said. "We just wanted to show love and show our support for thousands of kids who kind of feel forgotten about right now."

So far State Bags has donated 10,000 bags to kids in Flint. Their campaign isn't over yet.

statebags.com


About the Authors:

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.