Giving Grace project seeks used purses, donations to help those in need

The Giving Grace project was started by eighth grader Grace Mattson to provide feminine hygiene products to homeless women and girls.

Stanberry eighth grader Grace Mattson has started a project, Giving Grace, to help homeless women and girls in the Northwest Missouri area gain access to feminine hygiene products.

“This is such a basic need,” Grace’s mom, Cara, said. “It’s hard to imagine having to choose between feminine hygiene products and food.”

They had seen a Facebook post about filling an old purse and keeping it in the car to give to the homeless. They took the idea and decided to facilitate it on a larger scale.

Grace is asking for individuals to donate purses to the project so she can fill them will tampons, pads, tissues and chapstick. They will then deliver them to the Children and Family Center of Northwest Missouri in Maryville, which serves Atchison, Gentry, Holt, Nodaway and Worth counties.

“We plan to deliver to shelters in our communities first,” Cara said, “and hope to have support, donations and resources to also spread our reach further.”

To raise funds for the supplies, Grace is selling Slime she makes at different events in the area. The first one will be at the open house for Southern Barbie Boutique at Creative Cuts and Tanning in Stanberry on Saturday, March 16.

She will also be doing her Christmas wrapping project she started last year which raised $1,000 for the Stanberry food pantry. She also plans to think of other pop-up fundraisers throughout the year that are different and useful to the community.

Anyone with a purse to donate can drop them off at the Nodaway News Leader in Maryville or Eckard’s in Stanberry and St. Joseph. They are also willing to pick them up in other towns by calling Cara at 660.562.7692.

Individuals can also give monetary donations to the Giving Grace account at HNB Bank in Stanberry. Donations can be dropped off or mailed to HNB Bank, PO Box 129, Stanberry, MO 64489.