Swampscott boy packs goodwill into bar mitzvah

LYNN – Jared Wallen will be the center of attention at his June 20 bar mitzvah, but the 12-year-old made sure his rite of passage included an opportunity to help foster children who often arrive at new homes with nothing to call their own.Over the last 10 months, the Swampscott Middle School student has raised more than $2,500 to purchase 50 backpacks and stock them with age-appropriate items for foster children ranging from newborns to 10-year-olds.Brother Eli, 9, and Wallen?s mother, Ariel, helped Jared haul the packs into the Department of Children and Families Lynnway office last week where DCF Area Director Jack Doyle gratefully accepted the donation.?They?re quite amazing,” Doyle said.DCF family resource worker Lori Roscoe said 250 children are currently in Lynn-area foster homes, and she said new children are placed for their safety and wellbeing every day in Lynn-area homes.?There?s a huge need for good foster homes,” she said.The tiny packs Wallen stocked for newborns in foster care include a tube of “calming comfort cream,” a little blanket and plastic toy keys. Wallen, his mother, brother, and father, Adam, a Swampscott entrepreneur, became a foster family two years ago when Ariel Wallen, a Salem-area social worker, learned about the shortage of foster families in the Lynn area.They welcomed a 2-year-old foster girl into their home who, in Ariel Wallen?s words, “arrived with nothing.”As planning for his bar mitzvah got underway, Jared Wallen decided to focus the volunteer component of the celebration on foster kids. With his mother?s help, he reached out on social media for financial support, and friends and others invited to the Congregation Shirat Hayam bar mitzvah celebration were invited to contribute to Jared?s project.With Eli?s help, he bought and organized packs by age groups, including toddlers, young children and kids on the verge of their teenage years. They stuffed the packs with toiletry items, books, stuffed animals, lunch boxes and school supplies, depending on the child?s age.?We filled them with stuff that can comfort and clean,” Jared said.In a note sent out with his bar mitzvah invitations, Jared explained his project by stating: “I have seen how hard it is when a child is quickly taken out of immediate danger, arriving at a new home with nothing of their own.”Doyle said DCF will make Jared Wallen?s packs available to children as they move into foster care. Wallen plans to make more packs and offer them to DCF whenever the agency runs low on the initial stock he donated this week.Jared said his goal for the packs is simple.?We hope foster kids feel less scared and more cared for,” he said.