ORLANDO, Fla. – Harbor House of Central Florida hosted its fourth annual “Handbags for Hope” event Thursday night to raise money for children housed at domestic violence shelters across Orange County.
The organization’s young professionals board coordinated the fundraiser, emceed by News 6′s own meteorologist Candace Campos, at The Abbey in downtown Orlando.
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Harbor House decked out the venue with used designer bags to purchase or bid on at a silent auction in the hope of raising $20,000 to benefit children’s programs in shelters.
Attendees bidding on beauties such as Michael Kors, Coach and YSL, were also supporting the state-certified domestic violence organization, where half of the victims housed annually are children.
Michelle Sperzel, the CEO of Harbor House, said these funds will give kids everywhere the opportunity to be kids.
“We use some of the funds to buy STEM projects for camps. We have the kids build robots,” Sperzel said. “We are also having them learn more about theater ... If it’s a rainy day, we have gaming tournaments, all those different things because it’s just important. It doesn’t matter where kids are. We have to make sure that kids are able to have a childhood, regardless of where they are.”