It’s been a while since I’ve given an update on the Purse Drive that I started a few months back. If you’re so totally over the fact that I came up with the Purse Drive let me just say this: there is a big ol’ contest I’m doing to win a $500 Visa gift card at the end of this post. So, either you can take heart and walk along this really cool journey with me or you can be selfish go straight to the end of this post to win something.

It’s up to you.

Just remember this teeny tiny word: KARMA.

Initially, the idea behind the purse drive came after one of my female students cried to me about not having the correct size purse to carry at school. Anything larger than a piece of 8×10 paper wasn’t allowed in the classroom as a safety concern. So, I started cleaning out my own closets looking for something and then started asking friends if they had anything they wanted to get rid of in the way of purses since I know how many purses my friends own. A LOT. YOU LADIES OWN A LOT OF PURSES. After that, I started asking around to my online friends not knowing whether or not they’d find it a worthwhile cause.

The overwhelming response made me think a lot about how grassroots efforts take off at rocket speed.

Then, I thought it would be difficult to figure out how to get the purses into the girls’ hands without starting a riot since I had some Coach purses and a few Betsey Johnson bags and other designer clutches. It occurred to me that charging a mere $5 per purse would work. There was a lot of criticism for that because they were donated in the first place so that only lasted a few days until the girls at my school realized they could come to me for a new, size-accepted purse. Now, the purses reside in a few places in my building where girls can go for a purse. More often than not they shyly enter my office, ask if I’ve still got some purses left, and if they are able to take a look at them. It’s encouraging to watch the process because they sort of act like they’re picking out a new puppy, not something to hold wallets and cell phones and tampons.

Some moments cannot be captured in print from this experience and I honestly don’t want to exploit every girl who has visited me for a purse. As long as this has been going on, however, I’m still surprised by the girls who ask, “Would you be able to help me with a purse, please?” and not because they say “please” but because they still need them and have, without any formal prompting, found their way to see me for a purse.

Enough sappy stuff, let’s get on with the giving away of even more stuff! If you click on that link you’ll be taken to my Review Blog to read about my experience driving a Lincoln MKT crossover vehicle for a week and then you can enter the contest to win a $500 Visa gift card. Good luck!

In doing this purse drive I’m trying to keep up with all that’s happened. When I shared it with a friend of mine who has seen the purses flood into the school he said, “You know, this is bigger than you now.” That became apparent very quickly because in my mind this really was a small thing. A very small gesture that began with a seed: if I bring in a few of my old purses these girls can have them. It’s an oak tree now and includes purses from all over. California, Indiana, New York, Kansas, New Orleans, Connecticut, Michigan, England, and Ireland. Each time my mom picks up the packages at the post office she helps me open them and we read the cards that people enclose and the notes that are inside some of the purses and we are overjoyed each and every time. We smile and hold up the purses, “Look at this one!” and “How cute!” and “Someone is going to LOVE this one!” It is a ritual that hasn’t gotten old. We just like to hold them in our hands knowing that some girl is going to happen upon a purse that she just has to have and then take it home with her.

There have been purses dropped off at my school, too, by locals. People I don’t know who read about the story in the newspaper and decided to join. A woman, whose two children I taught years ago, who called the school to talk to me and catch me up on how her son and daughter are doing and who shared with me that her mother had graduated from my high school many decades ago. A local church Sunday school group who has taken the project on themselves and gather them together to donate. It’s beyond me now. It’s bigger than I could have imagined but grassroots-type efforts always seem to do that, don’t they?

Last week while my committee girls were selling purses at lunchtime there was a student who came to stand close to me. It’s not unusual for her to do that. She’s often by herself and is very shy and quiet so we chat about how her weekends were or what kind of homework she’s had lately. I never miss a chance to speak with her. She has that look, that needy gaze that tells me she only needs a moment of my time and then she usually trots off someplace else. But she lingered one day and I asked her what she thought of the purse drive. She said it was a good idea and she wishes she could have one. Do you know that feeling of playing Santa Claus when it’s not Christmas? I leaned over and whispered to her, “Why don’t you pick out your very favorite purse and tell me which one you like best? You can have it. We can make this happen.” Again. It was small. It was Santa-y, but still, small. If she herself were a Christmas tree she would have lit up right there on the spot complete with flashing lights and tinsel and sparkles.

Today, in the mail, there were 10 boxes of purses from different people. If there were even one more opportunity to make a girl feel what I read on her face in that moment then I hope I get to see it.

I wish you could see it, too.

Since many people have left cards and inspirational notes inside the purses they’ve donated to the Purse Drive (Hey, fellas? I know you come here and get tired of the girly talk, but just for one second remember that FOOTBALL LASTS FOR HOURS and it takes the average person 2.37 minutes to read this here blog.) I decided to add some notes to the naked ones. (See there? I provided a nude image for you.) (Or maybe you’re thinking of a hot dog with nothing on it. It’s nude. Get it?) One of my favorite places to get cards from is Moo.com where they have the cutest mini cards. Here are a few of the ones I’ve ordered. 

A reader named Sheri suggested that quote above. I love it as my own personal mantra.

Old Billy Shakespeare wrote that at one time. He went by Billy before he made it big.

This one makes me smile. A friend has that at the end of her email as her signature.

Last year when I visited the Shutter Sisters suite to chit chat with my friend Karen I discovered that the sisters were handing out gifts that had a mini Moo card with “dream big” on it. This is where I started when creating the cards because I still have this one in my office and see it daily.

Several years ago I was mentoring a student. I asked her what it was she wanted to hear from her parents to make her feel good about herself. “I just want them to say ‘You’re amazing’ to me just once and I’ll believe it.” That’s where I came up with this card. Knowing that she felt that way has left an impression on me that I can’t shake.

So, I’m wondering: do you have any short quotes I could add to these mini cards? Words of encouragement? Lay ‘em on me.

This is a sticky post so the Purse Drive details can be visible for all newcomers. Here’s the short version:

Problem: our high school girls are only allowed to carry small purses to school (it’s a safety issue)  and many girls have already purchased purses. Do I need to mention The Economy? Do I need to mention the poverty rate in my school?

Solution: have friends and family help donate small purses (women almost ALWAYS have more than one purse!), sell them for the bargain basement price of $5, and donate that money to the school for the students. My friends have been gracious enough to clean out their closets, but I know a lot more people find this an easy project in which to get involved.

Purses should be no larger than 8.5 x 11 so measuring with a piece of paper should be easy to use for measurement. They can be sent to me at:

Kelly Wickham

P.O. Box 9465

Springfield, IL 62791

Then, there’s karma. Who doesn’t love good karma for doing a good thing?

Here is a sampling of the purses we’ve received (for those that don’t know, the details are here) and even one of the inspirational sayings that is attached to a bag. We’re opening shop this Thursday. We, the seven gals and I, are peeing are pants with excitement. 

Ok. That’s just me. I would never disparage their names and suggest they have bladder issues. They’re perky teenage girls for heaven’s sake!

What I really like is the variety of styles we’ve been getting. There’s something for everyone. Don’t ask why the pictures have come out all wonky like this. But I’m just so excited to get these posted that I don’t have time to try to fix it. My head hurts when I get all HTML-y and pretend to know something about this blogging thing.