Friday, lake area residents will once again have an opportunity to assist foster children in need during the annual Totes 2 Tots suitcase drive.

Backpacks and suitcases collected at the event will go to foster children throughout the state — many of whom must shuffle their belongings from home to home during relocations.

According to a press release on the event, set for Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in various locations, was launched seven years ago by Georgia Cancer Specialists, and since its inception, nearly 12,700 bags have been collected. The 2008 event saw 4,500 bags collected, according the press release.

The event was originally held on Martin Luther King Day as a means of honoring the civil rights leaders’ humanitarian vision.

“Totes 2 Tots is a service project that is near and dear to all of our hearts, and we believe every year we are honoring Dr. King’s dream,” said Dr. Bruce Feinberg, president/CEO of GCS in a press release on the event. “With the continued growth Totes has experienced every year, I can only imagine what heights it may soar to in 2009.”

GCS partners with the Division of Family and Children’s Services (DFCS) to distribute the bags in the counties in which they’re collected, according to the press release information.

Donated items may include: backpacks, suitcases, duffle bags, diaper bags, and all other age-appropriate bags.

Twenty-five GCS offices throughout the state will be taking part in this year’s drive. Area collection points will be set up in Athens at 1000 Hawthorne Ave.; in Greensboro at 1000 Cowles Clinic Way; and in Milledgeville at 624 Martin Luther King Dr.

According to the event press release, there were more than 15,000 children in foster care in Georgia in 2005, and nearly 70 percent of them were under the age of 12.

For additional information, please call (404) 373-2021 or visit the Georgia Cancer Specialists Web site at www.gacancer.com for more details.