The Purse Project Hamilton

The St Francis Xavier Conference of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Stoney Creek Ontario recently participated in a project called “The Purse Project Hamilton”. This group collects items for women in need in our local community. This group asks groups, corporations and individuals to fill new or gently used purses with items such as toothpaste, deodorant, mitts, lip balm and other items. These items are then brought to one of the collection points in the city.

The St Francis Conference recently collected and donated 18 purses full of products for women. Included with them were $500 in gift Cards from a generous donor. The project was aided by the work of students from Cardinal Newman high school, our local Catholic high school. This was led by our youth member and the chaplain at the high school.

As of Monday Nov 12, almost 1,000 purses were collected. Groups supported include Interval house, Wesley urban ministries, the Good Shepherd Mary’s place, Inasmuch house, The YWCA, Essential aid and family services and Women Kind. The slogan for the campaign is “Fill a purse with love and a woman’s heart with hope”. Our conference hopes to support this project again next year.

This project is also being run in the Niagara area and in other parts of Ontario. It is usually run in the fall of the year. Perhaps this is something your conference will consider as a project.

To access more information see www.facebook.com/ThePurseProjectHamilton .