Rotarians collect handbags for homeless women Rotary Club of Balgowlah is taking part in a campaign by charity Share The Dignity which helps destitute women and victims of domestic violence in New South Wales.

A team from the Rotary Club of Balgowlah (New South Wales, Australia — D 9685) have been busy collecting second hand handbags and filling them with essential contents for women in crisis.

The initiative is part of a campaign by charity Share The Dignity, which helps women who are homeless or victims of domestic violence.

The charity’s It’s In The Bag initiative aims to encourage people to donate their used handbags and fill them with essentials a homeless woman might need, including soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant and sanitary products.

The club asked its members, supporters and friends to donate bags, which were then filled, ready to be distributed by Share The Dignity to women in need.

They were also encouraged to add extra items such as a lipstick, lotion or nail polish.

“Just anything they felt a woman with very little might like,” said Rotary club member Sue Terry.

“The response from our members has been amazing. We had 90 bags donated all up, of all kinds — some new, others old, and some relatively valuable,” she said.

Terry, who lives in Manly, said she and other club members had decided to collect the bags after realising homeless women were often overlooked over the Christmas period.

“There are usually lots of charitable campaigns aimed at helping kids at this time of year but not so many that help women,” she said.

The filled bags — which will be distributed to in the run up to Christmas — will now be stored at another club member’s home before being dropped off at a Share The Dignity collection point in Balgowlah in November.

Share The Dignity will try, where possible, to distribute the bags locally, and the excess will be taken where needed.

Source:  The Daily Telegraph