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The Rock it like a Redhead Beauty Tour is set to premiere in less than 30 days and we’re excited (and honored) to announce the official charity for the 5-series of events spanning from the Southwest, Midwest, East and West Coast. How to be a Redhead‘s goal was to team up with an organization who’s message was about empowerment and confidence, but most of all, we wanted the contribution to make a big difference in the lives of women.
That charity is: The Hope Bag Mission.
Founder of Me and the Girls Skincare line, Sharon Hackney-Robinson, has been a critical care nurse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for over thirty years. Her journey with The Hope Bag Mission started with a woman named Sarah. “I hope I made a difference because Sarah changed my life forever that night,” says Hackney-Robinson.
In her years as a health care professional, Hackney-Robinson has seen many women in need living in impoverished neighborhoods and squalor. But she had never seen a woman so completely broken until she met Sarah; she was HIV positive and the bloody needle used on her newborn baby had pierced through Hackney-Robinson’s hand.
When the incident occurred, Hackney-Robinson had a village of support. When she went to visit Sarah before leaving the building that night, she sat alone in the dark, terrified. Hackney-Robinson sat down next to her and she spoke in a defeated, soft tone: “Not a single person in the whole world loves me. Nobody. I deserve to die. I want to die.”
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“A river of tears was the only evidence that I was in the room with another human being,” says Hackney-Robinson. “I held her hand and she slowly responded, gripping tightly as though she was hanging on for dear life. I gave her tissues to dry her face and a comb and brush to fix her hair. I continued to pillage through my personal things to help her to clean up. She was indeed a mess. When I left her that night, the saddest, most broken woman I had ever met was smiling. My new lip gloss was shining on her lips. My favorite handbag and all of its contents were clutched tightly to her chest.”
Sarah and other women like her are the inspiration behind the Hope Bags; simple personal care and beauty items that made her feel feel worthy and human again.
Hackney-Robinson believes personal care items are an intricate part of healing a broken life during a very difficult transition. The Hope Bags extend opportunity and love from one woman to another by restoring dignity and trust.
The Hope Bag Mission aims to distribute to non-profit organizations that house and recover victims who are rescued from human trafficking throughout the country. “We strive to make our most vulnerable women and girls feel safe, valuable and beautiful during their difficult transition,” says Hackney-Robinson. “I want ‘my ladies’ to know that there is someone in the world that loves them. That person is me.”
Hackney-Robinson founded the Me and the Girls Skincare in 2011 and each purchase from the line buys a Hope Bag that is filled by generous volunteers. The bags are then distributed through organizations that provide long-term housing and recovery to women and girls that are victims of human trafficking. Each young woman or girl finds a lovely bag on her bed filled with personal care items, a book of inspiration and a handwritten note of encouragement from the woman (or man) who volunteered to fill her personal bag.
How to be a Redhead is proud to give 10% of all Rock it like a Redhead ticket proceeds to The Hope Bag Mission.
“Just like How to be a Redhead, The Hope Bag Mission uses beauty to lift women up,” says Stephanie Vendetti, co-founder of How to be a Redhead. “Our team will be delivering Hope Bags to shelters in each city: Austin, Nashville, Seattle, Chicago and New York City.”
If you haven’t claimed your spot in Austin, Nashville or Seattle (Chicago and New York City will be announced soon), get your ticket now.
To read more about The Hope Bag Mission or to see how you can get involved, click here.
