The hundreds of purses set out for sale at Sunday’s Power of the Purse event Sunday in Fort Langley found an eager crop of buyers.
The Fort Langley Community Hall was packed with dozens of women looking to pick up one – or more – of the purses.
Proceeds of the day will go to the Canadian Cancer Society, with a focus on women’s cancers.
Many donated new or gently-used purses were up for grabs for $10 a piece. Another table of purses were being auctioned off through a silent auction, and a few were slated for a live auction.
In addition to purses and a few other accessories like scarves, there was wine, beer, and appetizers provided by sponsors.
Cheryl Stertz came because she knows event organizer Darla Bracklow. Stertz also brought along her nieces and her mother.
“So far I’ve bought scarves,” Stertz said. She also had her eye on a silent auction item or two.
She was there both for the shopping opportunity and to support the cause of finding cancer cures.
“I know how much hard work Darla puts in, and all the ladies,” Stertz said.
“It’s fabulous,” said Diana Fox, who was definitely planning to pick up a purse.
“How many of us women have 12, 10 purses and we use one main one?” she said.
This is the second year for Power of the Purse, but the first for Linda Stables, a volunteer with the Canadian Cancer Society who came by to help.
A cancer survivor herself, as were many of the guests and organizers, Stables was impressed with the number of people who came to the event.
“It’s incredible what has been donated,” she said.
About 15 minutes after the covers were taken off long tables of purses, as the stock was starting to get depleted, organizers pulled out more boxes from under the tables and replenished them.
The event raised more than $6,000 last year, and this year managed to raise more than $8,500, according to a tally on Monday.