The Women In Architecture (WIA) Committee held its second annual collection drive for gently used purses and new travel size toiletries for a local branch of Purses For a Purpose on Saturday, Nov. 4. The non-profit group collects donated purses, handbags, and backpacks and fills them with travel-sized toiletries to deliver to homeless women in select cities across the nation.

Though eleven local firms were involved in the collection event, news about the drive spread to other organizations, resulting in a total of approximately 400 purses, along with several boxes and bags of new toiletries for distribution. Special thanks to Actalent, Beyer Blinder Belle, e4h, HDR, HGA, KGD, Maginniss + del Ninno, Perkins Eastman, Shalom Baranes Associates, Tektura Studio, and ZGF for participating in the collection drive.  Additional thanks go to DBI Architects, Wolf Gordon, GWWO Architects in Baltimore, and the State Department, who also made significant contributions to the collection drive.  

All of the items were delivered to Shayna Rutman, founder of Purses For a Purpose. In the coming weeks, Shayna and her volunteers will be providing the collected items to Community Family Life Services (CFLS) in the District of Columbia for distribution to women in need, in time for the greater holiday season.  

Thank you to all who made donations and assisted in making the collection drive a success.

– Sunny Carroll, 2024 WIA Co-Chair