The Purse that Keeps On Giving

 

Do you feel your acts of kindness matter?

Dressed to the hilt and driving a nice car, my business partner and I tirelessly drove around the streets of Miami each week in search of our next listing. Such is the typically fast-paced and fairly unpredictable life of a Realtor.

During these drives, we encountered our fair share of women living on the streets. There they stood, begging for money on the side of the road in the sweltering Miami sun, facing car after car, judgement glare after judgement glare. Why don’t you get a job? Why don’t you get a house? Why don’t you get off drugs?

She may be a mother. Maybe she’s seen her fair share of hardship. Maybe the pain of the abuse she faced as a child drove her to drugs just to help make the pain go away. But it never really went away. It just built up and built up. Soon it affected her job. And without that, no rent. After begging for hours, she gets $10. Enough for a little fast food. The last thing her malnourished body needs.

While homeless individuals face a variety of challenges and life-threatening obstacles every day, there are a variety of challenges that threaten the women on a regular basis. Every month, women living on the streets must choose between buying feminine hygiene products or their next meal. Feminine hygiene products are often more expensive than other basic care products. Most shelters do not provide items like pads or tampons free of charge. For these women, the cost of these products is simply too much, so they use soiled t-shirts or rags as replacements. These unsanitary homemade alternatives cause health issues, especially without access to a washing machine.

This brought up thoughts and conversations about our increasing concerns on fluctuating income during a down market and a recession. The fact that we only got paid when we closed a deal. We could be rolling in cash one month and then go three months without a paycheck. It wasn’t always realistically possible to budget ourselves in order to weather feast or famine. Then, the reality that we could potentially be a paycheck away from being homeless hit us on the head like a ton of bricks.

We contacted all of our friends, family, neighbors, clients, prospects and acquaintances and asked them to donate their unwanted purses. We purchased feminine products and toiletries and were able to fill 11 purses. We headed to the streets that day with a different purpose. That was the day that, instead of a judgement glare, we held out a purse filled with toiletries. That was the day The Giving Purse morphed into more than just an idea.

The Giving Purse Foundation, now a Florida Non-Profit corporation, is dedicated to collecting, organizing and delivering purses and bags filled with toiletries directly into the hands of the homeless. We have had the honor of partnering with organizations like Lotus House, Camilus House and Choose Love Foundation. In the last 4 years, we have personally handed out nearly 1,000 purses/bags with toiletries. We believe we can work together with the community to provide this vulnerable population with basic necessities while they work to overcome hardships and move forward with their lives.

We hope to continue to provide these necessities with the help from our generous sponsors and individual donations and support. We believe acts of kindness can change the world.

Today, and every day, we should all be alert to ways we can spread kindness — even in the smallest of ways.

Today, and every day, we can change the world.

You can find us on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/TheGivingPurse

At The Giving Purse, we welcome support from YOU, our community, by donating via the link below:

PayPal.me/Givingpurse

Love & Light to you all! Have a wonderful Holiday!