By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
No lumps of coal this year, Heather Swan declared.
Even in spite of COVID-19, the annual Fill A Purse For A Sister campaign is shaping up as an enormous success, thanks to the efforts of Swan and her fellow St. Vincent de Paul volunteers.
The Fill A Purse campaign originated with a social worker in Toronto, with the idea of filling a purse with small gifts for a woman who might otherwise be forgotten at Christmas. Swan got her permission a few years back to do the same in Northumberland County.
“Awesome!” she said of this year’s response.
“It really is awesome.”
The purses will go to women of all ages for whom Christmas is not a promising prospect, from young women still in high school to residents at seniors’ facilities – and, of course, members of the families St. Vincent de Paul help out at Christmas with gifts and Christmas dinner.
“The purses will go out to as many charities as we can find,” she stated.
They are working with a number of agencies to get a handle on the need, from high schools and organizations like Cornerstone Family Violence Prevention Centre to Covenant House and the shelters in Roseneath.
“On Christmas morning, they will find Santa has visited when they see a purse with a big red bow,” Swan said.
Supporters hand in the most amazing variety of gifts, purchased everywhere from Staples and Chapters to Hudson’s Bay.
And the purses – some beautiful handbags, some with the price tags still attached, have poured in.
Swan is also amazed at how widespread the support is. She got a call that donors as far away as Tweed have filled 25 purses. Then there were the seven big bins stuffed with purses by supporters in a Cobourg subdivision.
“One lady said, ‘I don’t have any purses, but I just bought 50 tubes of lipstick,’” Swan said.
“And Lakeland gave us $250 worth of Tim Hortons gift cards.”
Swan describes the purses as “stuffed to the rafters” with the most incredible finds.
She has to say the quality of donations they are seeing make it the most successful year ever for the program – even with the challenge of COVID.
“Normally we have drop-off locations for the purses in stores and restaurants, but with COVID, no one wanted that. So we decided to go with curb-side pick-up and people e-mailing us when they have something – it is a new world,” she remarked.
There will be caution on the delivery end too – for example, dropping off handbags for seniors in long-term-care homes by prearrangement at the door. And of course, when they get together for sorting-and-stuffing bees to get things organized, social distancing is strictly observed.
If you would like to help, they have set a Dec. 7 deadline for donations – ideally Dec. 7, Swan said, though they would accept donations after that date because so often they get last-minute requests.
New purses are great, but good-quality gently used ones are also nice.
As for what to put inside, Swan said, these are gifts – no food, no previously opened or used products, no too-personal items (like pregnancy tests).
Think of some gifts you’d like to get for a friend – beauty products, coffee-shop gift cards, stationery items, PPE items (like hand sanitizers or face masks) and personal-safety items (like whistles or flashlights) are possible suggestions.
If you can help, please contact Swan at 905-885-5149 or hswan@northumberlandlaw.com
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
