A wide variety of supplies to be included in Border Patrol Appreciation Bags sit on a table. The project to fill 600 bags is being led by Debbie Lascelles, founder of MercyWorks, a division of Youth With A Mission.

An East Texas medical team is assembling 600 appreciation bags for Border Patrol agents after learning about their plight during a trip this past month.

The team of 23 people departed Bethesda Clinic in Tyler to serve people on the U.S. and Mexico sides of the border for a week. The team was led by MercyWorks, a division of Youth With A Mission, founder Debbie Lascelles and was comprised of doctors, dentists and nurses from various local entities.

During the trip, the team had a meeting with a Border Patrol officer. Lascelles said the agent talked about challenges faced by the agents in the past two years. When she learned there are 600 agents in his unit, she wanted to do something practical to encourage each one of them.

Lascelles headed back to East Texas with a mission: to create bags of appreciation for the agents filled with items like beef jerky, sunscreen, protein bars, gum, socks, gift cards and handwritten notes of appreciation.

The cost of each bag, she said, is $50, and items will be assembled at Youth With A Mission Tyler to be distributed in person to each of the 600 border patrol agents next month.

Lascelles said the appreciation shown to the Border Patrol is long past due.

“Many of our Border Patrol agents feel overwhelmed and underappreciated,” Lascelles said. “It’s past time that those of us living in Texas show them we are grateful for the job they’re doing to try and keep us safe and uphold the rule of law.”

She said she wants the agents to know there are people in the U.S. who are praying for them.

Tyler dentist David Nichols was among the group who visited the border, and he said the first day at a migrant camp was “eye-opening.”

“A few months ago, the camp was crowded with 700 people. But now, when we went back, the tent city had swollen to over 3,000 immigrants from Central America, Haiti, Africa, etc.,” Nichols said. “And they keep coming. I can only imagine the stress our border agents have to deal with day in and day out with so little support.”

Eighteen teams from Youth With A Mission Tyler have gone to the border this year reaching out with its Christian message and providing over $150,000 in hygiene kits, blankets, children’s supplies, underwear, Bibles, school supplies and more. MercyWorks medical teams have also provided free dental care and medical checkups, according to Lascelles.

Youth With A Mission began in 1960 and is a global movement of Christians from many cultures, age groups and Christian traditions. Youth With A Mission operates in over 1,100 locations and more than 180 countries.

For more information, visit mercyworks.org, email info@mercyworks.org or call (866) 776-3729.