Christmas is in the bag

With Christmas around the corner, many charities are collecting toys and gifts for children in need.

But the women doing it tough over the holiday season are often overlooked, sacrificing their own needs for the people around them.

An initiative started by the women at Share the Dignity is aiming to change this, encouraging people to “build a bag” filled with women’s essentials and luxury items for women in need for the It’s in The Bag campaign.

Members of the Geraldton community are asked to fill spare handbags with goodies and drop them at the Geraldton Resource Centre, where they will be distributed throughout the community.

Geraldton Resource Centre principal solicitor Alison Muller said the handbags could make all the difference in helping struggling women feel special at Christmas.

“Sometimes for people living life on the edge, the small gesture can be the thing that keeps them going,” she said.

The resource centre started taking donations this week, and already people were showing their generosity, Ms Muller said.

“We’ve got quite a few bags here already but we can certainly take more because the need is great,” she said.

Ms Muller encouraged people to use their imagination when filling a handbag with anything from toothpaste to perfume or a movie voucher.

Product bottles should be unopened and bags for younger women can be marked with a yellow ribbon.