Since 2016, women in need have been getting a boost from the volunteers at The Purse Project Network over the holiday season - and things are getting started early this year.
Gayla Matos and Jill MacKellar, who teamed up to found the local initiative, are still at it eight years later. They’re putting the word out now, in hopes of inspiring groups or individuals to be ambassadors who will organize their own collections.
As in the past, there will be drop-off points in Waterdown that will be announced in October; at that point they’ll also put the call out for volunteers to help collect, sort and deliver the purses in December.
But for now, they want to inspire the community – it can be one person, a business, a church group a ball team or even a book club – to start getting organized.
“It really is a community initiative, and people just catch the vision, then generally, they just pick up and run with it,” said MacKellar.
“There are various ways in which people can help, so collecting … and that can be very small. It can be your book club, or your church ladies, or maybe your yoga class, something like that,” she added. “It doesn't have to be some kind of huge commitment. You can just get a bunch of friends together, tell them about what we're doing, and then they collect amongst them, and then you pass the purses onto us.”
Matos notes that the purses must be new, or in excellent condition; they are all quality checked. They ask for them to be filled with 10 essential items, and provide a helpful list of what to include. The 10 essential items are: toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, body or hand lotion, shampoo/conditioner, lip balm, body wash/soap, socks, a hat or scarf, and gloves or mitts.
“We like to think of these purses as being a gift that we are giving to someone. They are not our leftovers. They're not our second hands,” said Matos. “We want the women to feel blessed, so we have very high standards with that.”
Last year, the local Purse Network Team collected more than 1,900 purses, each packed with personal items, gift cards and treats for the women who received them. They are distributed to about 20 charities across Hamilton and Halton. Last year, these included the Flamborough Women’s Resource Centre, The Hope Centre-Eagles Nest, the Compassion Society and Shifra House in Burlington and St. Matthew’s House and Wesley House in Hamilton, among others.
More information on the types of purses and what to put in them, along with guidelines for filling a purse can be found on The Purse Network website or by emailing Matos and MacKellar at [email protected].
