Trending for Spring: The JLW Trash Bag Handbag

As women, our handbags say a lot about us. They reveal our style preferences, personalities, and the season (both literally and figuratively) we are in.

Take my current bag, for example. It’s quite obvious by my larger than life, bursting at the seams, full of juice stains and cracker crumbs mom bag, that I have young children. I live out of that bag, and I long ago ditched my bulky diaper bag and exchanged it for something a bit more my style that didn’t quite scream “MOMMY” so loudly.

But no matter how stylish my bag, it always gives away my identity. There is no hiding the fact that I’ve got little ones who eat a lot of snacks and have short attention spans.

Now, imagine my curiosity when the Junior League of Wichita asked me to replace my everyday handbag with a trash bag for one week. My immediate thought was, Ok, there’s no way I’m fitting even half of my typical mom gear in that teeny trash bag. And I’ve got meetings that week and drinks with friends and places to be!

Trashbag Handbag Camapaign

But the reason I was asked to carry a trash bag outweighed my petty short-lived concerns.

I had no idea that many times when children are removed from their homes and placed in police-protected custody or foster care, they are given a trash bag to keep and transport all of their belongings. A trash bag. Can you even imagine what kind of signals this sends to a child? As a mom, this is truly heartbreaking to think about, but I’m so glad I’ve been enlightened.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and Junior League of Wichita members are swapping out their purses for trash bags this week, April 18-22, in order to create awareness. But more importantly, this Trash Bag Handbag campaign has the ability to make a direct impact on children in crisis in our very own community.

Through this campaign, the goal is to raise money for duffel bags to be distributed to local children in transition. One duffel bag costs $25 and will include a pillow pet, hygiene kit, coloring books and crayons and, in partnership with Together We Rise,will be distributed among the Wichita community through CASA of Sedgwick County, the Wichita Police Department, and the Child Advocacy Center of Sedgwick County.

Trashbag Handbag JLWOf course, I obliged and am so excited to be proudly sporting my new accessory this week!

Follow Wichita Moms Blog on Facebook and Instagram this week as several of our team members will also be carrying blue trash bags in support of this campaign! It’s going to be fun and… interesting, to say the least, as we try to fit all of our mom things into our temporary bags. But if you see anyone around town toting their blue trash bag, be sure to stop and say hello!

Better yet, if you would like to directly support this campaign and provide a child with something they can call their own, please feel free to make a donation – $25 will actually provide a duffel bag for a child in need.

Help us replace trash bags with duffel bags.

>>>DONATE HERE<<<

You can mark an ambassador on your donation – WMB’s is Angela Green. And if you donate $25 (the cost for one duffel bag), you will receive a voucher for a FREE wash and fold laundry service with In the Bag Cleaners! 

Now to figure out how to fit all the diapers and all the snacks…

#trashbaghandbag

Angela Green
Angela is the founder of Wichita Mom, the premier parenting website and digital guide for families as they navigate life in Wichita, KS. She is a wife, business owner, avid reader, proud gymnastics & dance mom, Peloton lover, and is always planning her next trip.