By Sarah Wallace

PA women host 2nd annual Handbags for Hope

Apr 12, 2013 | 6:13 AM

Five Prince Albert women are getting ready for their second annual Handbags for Hope event.

Sharon Hopkins, Jacqui Hopkins, Chantale Fetch, Janna Anderson and Laurel Robinson make up the city’s Team 4 Hope team.

These five women, along with seven other women in the Victoria and Vancouver area raise money throughout the year for Neuroblastoma research.

Neuroblastoma is a rare type of childhood cancer that develops in infants and young children, with the average age of those affected being two.

Member of Team 4 Hope Sharon Hopkins said they raise money through running marathons, getting donations and through an event called Handbags for Hope.

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“We’re really fortunate that people are standing behind this. And the thing with Neuroblastoma is that nobody is funding [research], there’s no pharmaceutical company, no big sponsors coming on board. So basically it’s just us and Western Canada that are raising funds for the research at the Genome Centre in BC,” Hopkins said.

This year’s event will be held Saturday at the Prince Albert Golf and Country Club from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

“Last year Handbags for Hope raised $8,300 in Prince Albert. The Team 4 Hope in the Victoria area did their Handbags for Hope in February and they raised $11,000 and last year as a group we raised $106,253.26,” explained Hopkins.

All the money raised by these women goes straight towards Neuroblastoma research at the BC Children’s Hospital in the Genome Centre.

How to participate

The event that takes place on Saturday will feature a number of ways people can take part and donate.
The ladies are collecting gently used and new handbags from now until the event.

“We collect them, we clean them, we price them for a fraction of the cost, so anywhere from $5 up to $35. We have some that are brand names, like Coach, Mat & Nat and things like that. Some higher end ones … those ones go for between $50 and $75,” Hopkins explained.

“We also have brand new purses for sale as well through a silent auction.” Hopkins said there will also be other items up for grabs at the silent auction.

There will also be a “Toonie Purse” at the event as well, which works like a 50/50 draw.

At last year’s event the winner of the “Toonie Purse” walked away with $342, which meant that another $342 was donated to Neuroblastoma, and the winner also got to keep the purse.

“We have a whole bunch of things at the Handbags for Hope, as well as Oprah tickets. We’re selling [the tickets] at $5 each or three for $10. The winner will get the tickets to go to Oprah the next day, so it’s kind of a cool thing,” Hopkins said with a laugh.

She said this is a great way for people to clear their closets of those purses they no longer use.

The group has already collected somewhere between 700 and 800 purses already.

Anyone wishing to donate a purse or to purchase tickets can contact Sharon at 306-961-2600 or Jacqui at 306-961-2740.

Tickets for the event are only $20 in advance or $25 at the door.

“The support we’ve had from the community is amazing and we just want to say thank you. It’s not only about raising the funds, it’s about raising awareness, like nobody knows that this children’s cancers not getting funded and any little bit of help we can get is amazing,” Sharon said.

swallace@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahthesquid