This year marks Share the Dignity’s eighth year collecting donations for its annual #ItsInTheBag Christmas appeal.
Bunnings stores across the region were drop-off points for community members to contribute their bags from November 18 to 27.
The #ItsInTheBag campaign aims to ensure every woman and girl spending Christmas in a refuge or domestic violence shelter receives the basic essentials and a little something extra to look forward to.
Organisers suggested the bags be filled with items such as pads, tampons, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner and soap, plus a little luxury or two such as hair accessories or a handwritten note.
The initiative is more important than ever, with the rising cost of living, ongoing pandemic impacts and worsening domestic violence rates and displacement due to recent natural disasters.
Share the Dignity founder and managing director Rochelle Courtenay revealed the charity had experienced a donation deficit in the past two years, with an average 30,000 fewer bags donated annually since 2019.
“We’re now seeing the true impacts of the past few years, which sadly has meant that more vulnerable women and girls are looking for support than ever before,” she said.
“It’s been an especially challenging period for many women and girls, and this might be the only gift they will receive this Christmas.
“A simple gift can provide hope and dignity, and that’s what the festive season is all about.”
Kathy Graham experienced first-hand the impact a simple #ItsInTheBag donation has on a person’s life.
“Just before I received the bag, I was a victim of a domestic violence shooting and had a bullet go through my hip — I had major physical and psychological issues,” Ms Graham said.
“The bag I received had shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, a little bottle of perfume and most excitingly two packets of pads. I was so grateful and couldn’t believe it, two packets!
“Also inside the bag was a little piece of paper that said ‘you are not alone’ and that was so special to me because the whole system had let me down, I felt I wasn’t worthy and when someone I didn’t know said that, it made me feel so special and validated.”
Ms Graham said the bag was the first and only bag she had ever been given, and she cherished it to this day.
“I still carry the bag with me as a reminder of who I was, who I am now and how far I have come,” she said.
The 2022 Share the Dignity campaign has received the lowest number of bags collected since 2016, with almost 70,000 bags and counting.
While collection points at Bunnings stores are now closed, those wanting to support women and girls like Kathy can donate or sponsor a bag at www.sharethedignity.org.au