For a fifth year, co-owner of Lilly Lane Boutique, Mondi Haynes is holding her annual handbag trade-in event that benefits the Family Refuge Center.
The event makes it easy for customers to participate. They can bring in gently used handbags to donate and in return, they receive 20% of the purchase of a new, regularly priced handbag. The donated bags are then given to the Family Refuge Center to help women who are struggling. The event begins Feb. 17 and lasts until Feb. 25.
Haynes has owned Lilly Lane Boutique along with her husband Russel Haynes for approximately five and a half years. They opened the store after moving to the area from Memphis, TN. She has been holding this event every year since they opened.
Haynes said she started the event to help the community.
“When I came here I saw the need to help the community and I loved the idea of the Family Refuge Center,” Haynes said.
She said she got the idea from Dillards Department Store where she had previously worked for many years. Haynes said she makes donations to the center regularly, even outside of this event, and the people running the center have come to know her really well.
Haynes told stories of customers that will often bring in bags to donate even when her event is not happening or when they are not making purchases. The event has become something of a staple in the community since its inception; it is an easy and helpful way to give back. She also said that sometimes during the event a representative of the Family Refuge Center will come to the shop so they can thank those who donate in person. Many of the bags brought in are high-end bags such as Coach or Dooney & Bourke. These bags are an asset to women who come to the center. Some of the women escaping an abusive situation may have to leave with nothing but the clothes they are wearing.
The Family Refuge Center provides a range of services to those in need. They offer advocacy for victims of elder abuse, which includes physical, financial, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as neglect and abandonment. They also provide an emergency shelter for domestic and sexual violence survivors. Other services include a family visitation center, prevention education, therapy and victim advocates. The center serves Greenbrier, Monroe and Pocahontas counties. Supporting the FRC is supporting survivors. The Family Refuge Center is “committed to ending physical, sexual and emotional abuse in families.”
Handbags can be donated through Lilly Lane Boutique at any time, the only difference will be that the donor will not receive the discount that comes with donating during the trade-in event. The shop carries a multitude of beautiful new bags to choose from. Brands include Simply Southern, Spartina 449 and Vera Bradley. In addition to handbags, they also carry jewelry, masks and home decor including Willow Tree items. New items are often posted to the shop’s Facebook page, Lilly Lane Boutique.
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