Christmas Carol Purse Project for victims of domestic violence

It started with three women hoping to help women in need and snowballed - quickly.

In just one month, a charity drive for women in shelters and victims of abuse has taken off in the Metro Detroit area and Jason Carr got a chance to meet the woman behind it.

Julie Gerstner and her two aunts started a project to collect gently-used purses, fill them goodies, wrap them for Christmas, and then donate them all. The plan was to take them to shelters and safe houses that are help protect victims of domestic and sexual abuse. The generosity of others has come through.

Their initial goal was 15-20 bags and Julie's aunt, Judy, asked her to design a flier to help spread the word. She then shared the fliers on a few Facebook pages and within a few days, their little project had gone viral.

They raised 2,000 purses in one month.

Since November 17, they've collected enough bags to distribute to shelters throughout the state of Michigan.

In fact, they've collected so much, their Christmas list is done and they're already moving on to Mother's Day!

Want to get involved? Join the group on Facebook here and watch Jason's interview with Julie in the video below: