SAN ANTONIO – The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and other volunteers partnered to prepare what they are calling “dignity bags” for children arriving at San Antonio’s Migrant Resource Center.
LULAC members said that young children, close to their families, are sleeping on the street in and around the Migrant Resource Center.
“They’re really close, they’re velcroed to their caregiver to their parent, they’re scared,” Sandragrace Martinez with LULAC said.
One migrant at the MRC tells us that he, his three-year-old son and his pregnant wife have been at the center for a week and a half but have been sleeping behind the shopping center next door.
“It’s really cold, we worry a lot about our kid,” Rogel Jimenez said.
We asked what they do to get by and to stay warm.
“(We) ask for covers and sheets, and that’s how we sleep,” he said.
Jimenez described what it was like having his family sleep in the cold.
“It’s very difficult,” he said. “Do you think I want to have my pregnant wife sleeping on the floor?”
These types of situations have Martinez and LULAC taking action. She and other volunteers are now making dignity gags for migrant children.
Many come with baby wipes, combs, hair ties, chapstick, journals, pens, crayons, and face masks, but each bag is individualized depending on the child’s age and gender.
She’s dropped off 22 bags in the last four days, but she says more help is needed and more migrants are on the way.
If you’re interested in helping and want to donate, call 726-228-4668.