We Did It! More than 96,000 Purple Purses Passed to Help Domestic Violence Survivors

By Vicky Dinges
Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Allstate

As I reflect on the tireless work of domestic violence advocates across the country, I’m especially proud of our partnership with the YWCA and the growing success of this year’s Purple Purse campaign. Your commitment to making a difference inspired more than 96,000 passes of our real and virtual purple purses and raised $350,000 for YWCA domestic violence services across the country. Even more important, you helped increase public awareness of domestic violence and made a difficult topic easier to talk about. Because of you, more victims have the information they need to break free and stay free from abuse.

I especially want to applaud the creativity demonstrated this year in spreading the word and purple purses. Three events really stand out:

The YWCA of Cass Clay in North Dakota enlisted student athletes at each of their local high schools to pass the purse in a creative video.
The Synchro-Maids helped YWCA of Central Massachusetts gracefully pass the purse poolside.
And because all that passing from hand to hand and conversation can be exhausting for a little purse, the YWCA of Central Virginia treated their purple purse to a massage.

Check out photos, Tweets, Facebook posts and more at PurplePurse.com/style, and visit the YWCA USA’s Storify page to see just a sample of all the online activity this year. Actress and activist Rosario Dawson even joined the campaign, recording a PSA about domestic violence.

Source: Allstate Newsroom

Since first introducing the purple purse, it’s become a powerful symbol of our work to empower more domestic violence survivors to achieve economic independence. (The purse represents the center of a woman’s financial domain, and purple is representative of domestic violence awareness.) We truly believe driving awareness is step one in changing society’s attitudes about violence against women and girls. It is not acceptable in any form. Getting people to talk about it. Getting victims help. And providing survivors with the tools they need to support themselves and their families is what Purple Purse is all about.

Our communities and families are fortunate to know there are countless YWCA heroes helping survivors each and every day. As we gather with our friends and family for Thanksgiving next week, we’ll say a special thanks to all of you who offer hope and empowerment to so many women all year.

Vicky Dinges is Vice President of Corporate Responsibility for Allstate Insurance Co. She also is a board member for the YWCA Evanston/North Shore in Illinois.