This Week's Challenge: The 10/20 Project's Coat Drive Benefits the Hope Cottage Through The Compassion Fashion Project

Me, (left) and Karin from The 10/20 Project, (right).

Okay, so I am posting this challenge a couple days early, but I am really excited about what we accomplished this week.  In this week's challenge I really want everyone to take a look at The 10/20 Project and what they stand for.  The mission of The 10/20 Project is a simple one: "The $10/20 Project has a “think small” mentality. We encourage supporters to contribute a minimum of $10 and/or 20 minutes of service to meet individual needs. By focusing on small acts of support, we seek to meet immediate needs and bridge resources in the lives of individuals who are hungry, homeless, disabled, or have other immediate needs. We encourage those who have benefited to “pay it forward” to another individual in need."

Gloves with tags attached donated by Old Navy.

I met with Karin Bara, founder of The 10/20 Project, last Saturday and she gave The Compassion Fashion Project nearly forty coats plus accessories and some personal care products that we then distributed to The Hope Cottage in Searcy.  We feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to meet with Karin and share in her wonderful coat drive that she teamed up with the national organization One Warm Coat to complete (click here to read more about One Warm Coat and their mission).  A big thank you, also, to Burlington Coat Factory and Old Navy of Arkansas for their participation in the coat drive.  Some of the coats we delivered to The Hope Cottage still had the tags attached and all the gloves from Old Navy were brand new with tags attached.  Next time you go shopping, perhaps take into consideration what stores are doing good deeds in your community before spending your hard earned money.


This wool coat by GAP had a vintage look (my fave).


Now a little information about the Hope Cottage...White County Domestic Violence Prevention, Inc., is a non-profit agency serving the victims of domestic violence in White County, Arkansas.  They own and operate Hope Cottage, the shelter for battered women and their children who are fleeing abusive relationships.  WCDVP, Inc., first began in 1995, with two local citizens independently researching the need for a local battered women’s shelter.   They learned that White County residents in need of help were finding shelter in Heber Springs or Batesville, and that 78 White County women sought refuge in those shelters that year alone.  The Batesville shelter put the two women in touch with each other, and the ball was rolling!  Hope Cottage opened just one year later, in a temporary shelter donated by a local church.  A few years later, they opened their own shelter in an undisclosed location, for the protection of the women seeking shelter there.   Since 2004, 815 women and children have found safety at Hope Cottage.  


Coats, like this one,
still had tags attached (retail of this coat $80).


If you want to help the Hope Cottage they clearly state on their website, "All victim assistance programs need dollars, plain and simple.  It's great to get government grants to support direct client services, but those dollars can't be used for everyday things like keeping the electricity on, getting the computer fixed, and all the other hundreds of things that small organizations struggle with every day.  So the first thing you can do with your time and talents is raise money.  Have a bake sale, garage sale, art sale, car wash, pass out flyers at your office, school, or church, etc.  Donate that money to organizations like ours."

You can send your donations to:

P.O. Box 1196
     Searcy, Arkansas 72143

Among other things YOU can do, the Hope Cottage suggests:

Learn all you can about domestic violence.  Share your knowledge with friends and family.

Teach your sons that violence is not an acceptable method of getting their way. 

Teach your daughters that they do not deserve abusive treatment.

Let local officials know that you are concerned about this issue in your county and that you support their efforts to protect the victims and hold the abusers accountable.

I just want to reinforce in this week's challenge something that The 10/20 Project suggests, "by focusing on small acts of support, we seek to meet immediate needs and bridge resources in the lives of individuals who are hungry, homeless, disabled, or have other immediate needs."

We can all do something!

Eighteen month black sateen coat with pink lining donated by Burlington Coat Factory with tag still attached.