My friends Gina and Alex hosted a Handbags with Heart event last year to support women at Dorothy’s Community Closet – a venue put together by Gina Johnson to provide free clothing to anyone in need in the Hartford area.

When I shared on FB that the studio was going to collect items for their event, clients and friends contacted me to say that they’d like to do the same project to support women in Manchester area shelters. So we did.

The response was amazing! We had over 150 gently used handbags and an abundance of personal hygiene items to put inside them donated. This meant an ability to support over five different shelters in the area.

Along with the many thank you notes received, I had one very moving conversation with a woman who stopped in to give us some items.  She told me that there was a time that her and her children had to stay in shelters. While they needed and very much appreciated any item of help that they received …. what she said blessed her the most was knowing that she was not forgotten about.

She expressed that once you are in a situation like that you feel marginalized, invisible, and undervalued.  The fact that anyone would consider going out of their way to donate personal care items, socks, stuffed animals for her kids … gave her hope. It meant that somebody knew she existed – and cared that she was alive.

Don’t ever underestimate the value of your random acts of kindness. No matter how big or small,  it may be just the sustenance another human being needs to get out of bed one more day.

If you’d like to donate items for this years Handbags with Heart project please see event details here.  We still need gently used handbags and lots of personal care items such as:  shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes, tampons, toilet paper, socks, etc. All items need to be dropped off before December 4, 2016.  Thanks in advance for considering participating in this years event. ♥