Rita Gaw was a Registered Nurse for 40 years, a truly caring woman with a huge and wonderful heart. Beginning her career in Owensboro, Kentucky, she and her husband moved to the Indianapolis, IN area in 1998. In Indianapolis it is very common to see men and women standing on the corner with signs stating that they are homeless and asking for money. There have been many stories written and broadcas
t on TV about how sometimes the money used was for alcohol and drugs rather than shelter. Rita always felt the need to help them somehow and had a place in her heart for them, especially the women. As Rita was going through treatment for ovarian cancer she still felt the need to help others. One day she mentioned to her husband, Tom, the idea of providing sleeping bags for the homeless. And the idea Rita had was to have the sleeping bags sewn into another type carry bag so that they were never separated and the sleeping bag could be rolled into the outer bag and carried as a backpack. In addition there would be a smaller bag sewn into the sleeping bag which was full of toiletries and rain ponchos. A couple of weeks later three of Rita sisters came to visit and Rita mentioned the idea to them. Shortly thereafter, the sisters returned to Indianapolis to visit but this time they had fabric, sewing equipment and toiletries ready to begin her project. After making a handful of them Tom, Rita and their grandson, Eli delivered them to Wheeler Mission Homeless Shelter for Women and Children. This shelter allows the homeless to stay indoors from 5pm until 8am during the coldest of months but they still live under bridges, in alleys and near the river. The shelter assured Rita that the sleeping bags would be distributed to those people and a partnership was formed. They were told that these sleeping bags would actually be some of these women's prized possessions. The sisters continued to make more of these and they were also given to Wheeler Mission. In the meantime several other homeless shelters were contacted and it has become very obvious that there was a need for the sleeping bags for the large homeless population in the Indianapolis area. Rita's hope was to provide at least a little bit of comfort for those who have no home and must sleep on the ground. Rita Gaw passed away on June 21, 2017 from ovarian cancer, but her husband and family are committed to keeping her work alive and Rita's Hope Foundation will be her legacy. Their goal is to provide a few hundred of these special sleeping bags each year to those truly in need. If you know of anyone else that would like to contribute to Rita's Hope Foundation the donations can be sent to
Rita's Hope Foundation: PO box 337, Fishers Indiana 46038. Help us to help others!
