sparefoot-operation-swag-bagThe employees at SpareFoot are a generous bunch.

During Thanksgiving, they launched a food drive to benefit the Capital Area Food Bank.

And during this holiday season, the SpareFoot employees collected nearly $1,000 to buy items for its first-ever “Operation Swag Bag initiative.”

They came up with the idea after reading an article titled “The Trashbag Kids” about the hardships foster children endure, according to John Egan, SpareFoot spokesman.

SpareFoot employees filled each “swag bag” with hats, mittens, fleece blankets, ear buds, pens, reusable water bottles, journals and sketch pads, Egan said. They delivered the bags on Monday to a program for foster teens operated by Austin’s LifeWorks Youth & Family Alliance.

“We were able to give back to the community–to the forgotten teens and maybe to future SpareFooters,” Vanessa West, one of SpareFoot employees who organized Operation Swag Bag, said in a statement.