Purses for books: Handbag donation campaign begins

Rummage through your closets, The Brownsville Herald is now taking new and slightly used handbags for its first purse sale ever in the name of literacy.

The Herald and the Brownsville Literacy Center will be holding the sale in December and all proceeds will go directly to the organizations’ reading-based programs.

More than 200 bags have already been collected since the organizations began accepting donations this week — of "quality new and gently used" purses, pocketbooks and totes.

"If women can go into their closets and pull out a purse they have not used recently, that would help us out tremendously," said Sandy McGehee, director of educational services at The Herald.

The organizations have also received donations from retail stores, and shoppers at the sale can expect to find some high-end bags, mostly new, at low prices, McGehee said.

No bag will be more than $75, she said, and the average price range will be $10-$20 — a real coup for high-quality purses that include designer labels, such as Coach, Stewart Weitzman and Kate Spade.

Bags can be dropped off until Nov. 2 at the following locations: The Brownsville Herald, Letee’s Hair Studio and Spa, Carriage House Day Spa and the Brownsville Literacy Center.

The sale has been slated for Dec. 5 and will be held from 9 a.m. until noon at the Historic Brownsville Museum.