Mother’s Day Campaign 2011: Power of a Purse -
Style Your Financial Future!

Our annual Mothers & More Mother’s Day Campaign raises members’ and community awareness about key social and economic issues that affect mothers’ lives and well-being. Mother’s Day Campaign 2011 activated mothers’ thinking about their life-long financial health, empowering them to access and use the power of their purses more intentionally.

We Introduced Empowered PURSE

Mother’s Day Campaign 2011 drew on Empowered PURSE, a series of conversations that guides moms in a fun and unique way on their own money journey. Empowered PURSE offers mothers a path for exploring their relationship with money and where it fits into their values and everyday lives. Moms will continue to connect with each other as they learn how to accomplish their goals and protect their futures by taking charge of their financial decisions. As a result, moms will emerge with a more concrete, more hopeful financial future.

Empowered PURSE creates the essential space mothers need to give their futures and personal financial picture the time and attention it deserves. Moms will continue to discover the source of their own attitudes toward money and take a closer look at how these attitudes shape their current situation and future relationship with money. Most importantly, mothers will walk away with a plan that makes it possible to live with greater intention and reach personal goals.

What is Power of a Purse?

Power of a Purse also returned to our 2011 Mother’s Day Campaign in its more familiar form: a community drive designed to draw attention to mothers’ economic issues through the act of collecting new or gently used purses for mothers in need. Purses symbolize a woman’s economic power, something we wish for all women, especially mothers in need. More than an accessory, a purse and its contents reflect the many roles and responsibilities mothers shoulder every day.

Now more than ever, today’s families rely on the income mothers contribute to essential household expenses like food, shelter, clothing, health care, and education. Single, divorced or widowed mothers are five times more likely to live in poverty than married mothers. And we now know that the single greatest predictor that a woman will end up in bankruptcy is having a child. No matter where she resides on the social ladder, there is “power in her purse” when a mother has money of her own to control, to act on purchasing decisions, and to provide for herself and her children.

Mothers & More chapters collected nearly 5,000 purses during the 2011 Mother’s Day Campaign to build on the previous Power of a Purse achievement of over 10,000 purses given to mothers in need across the United States. Chapters partnered with non-profit organizations in our members’ immediate communities to distribute the collected purses and, in some cases, donations of personal items to fill those purses. Donated purses, along with Mothers & More events that celebrate the power of those purses, directly reached mothers who already face the effects of real financial vulnerability in their daily lives. A big thank you goes out to all of the volunteers in the 25 chapters across the nation who participated in the 2011 campaign. Read all about it in your August 2011 issue of Forum.

We also want to recognize our talented 2011 Power of a Purse project team. Liz Salamone from Rochester, NY Chapter 9 was the first to step forward as project manager extraordinaire. She created a detailed project plan and introduced us all to the joys of using a virtual desktop to cooperatively edit documents. Liz was soon joined by co-chair Lisa Blackwell from Broome Tioga, NY Chapter 52 who worked tirelessly to create a menu of outreach options, ranging from a simple chapter meeting to a large scale community event that could work for any chapter. Talented descriptive communications maven, Margaret Thomas, from Twin Cities East, MN Chapter 299 joined the team soon after and helped create cohesive exciting wording for our documents, website and press release.

Last but certainly not the least Melissa Hoyer, certified financial planner and member of Boulder, CO Chapter 209 developed our brand new Empowered PURSE program. Interested in living the life of your dreams? Check out Empowered PURSE and make a plan to do just that today.

Here is a listing of chapter events held across the nation:

How to Donate Purses

If you are interested in donating purses please contact the chapter event nearest you listed above.  If you are not near a city where an event is taking place, please e-mail Mothers & More.