AKRON, Ohio — For the Panzener family, giving back is second nature.

What You Need To Know

  • The Panzener family has made hundreds of "sharing is caring" bags to give to the homeless community in Akron

  • The family began doing this at the beginning of the pandemic

  • Each bag is filled with what they call "items of hope" and decorated by the children

 

"You’ve got to put yourself out there and find that need in the world, and let other people know just how much they mean to their own community, ” said Kate Panzener, who is the mother of three children who all help make "sharing is caring“ bags for the homeless community in Akron.

Panzener calls the bags, “little bags of hope. They are filled with snacks and treats and sometimes a little love note and the kids decorate them and they are just to offer a little bit of hope to those who get them.”

On the front of each bag is a handwritten message from the kids.

The family started making the bags at beginning of the pandemic.

Now, hundreds of bags later, assembling the bags is a part of their normal routine.

"I think like a lot of people we (were) kind of lost and wondering where can we help. What can we do? And seeing that the need was there, we were like, 'Oh great. This is easy and we can do that,'” Panzener said.

The family says filling the bags is a community effort.

"We just have so much help from the kids' teachers to their friends, their parents, neighbors, people just drop stuff off.”