Imagine having the opportunity to win a designer purse every day during the month of April.

That is exactly the premise of a new fundraiser being planned by Help The Fight, a nonprofit organization that supports individuals living with breast cancer.

As part of the designer purse giveaway, community members are invited to purchase a ticket, which will be entered into a random drawing. There will be 30 winners in the 30 days of April. Ticket holders must be 18 years of age or older to participate.

"Each day we will pull a name," explained Lynda Charles, president and founder of the organization. "The name that we pull will get the designer bag of that day. Hopefully, people will buy more than one ticket."

The giveaway replaces the organization's previous fundraiser, a designer bag bingo. "Last year, just prior to COVID, we actually had our very first designer bag bingo at the Farm and Home Center in Lancaster," Charles reported. "People loved it but with COVID our fundraising events have altered, just as everyone else's has. We decided to do this for the month of April."

Currently, the organization has about 20 bags that it purchased brand new by designers Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Coach and others. Sponsors are needed to fund the cost of the remaining bags. "We have a lot of styles and colors," Charles pointed out. "With our choices, we are trying to appeal to as many people as possible."

Winners of the bags will be contacted by phone, and their names will be announced on the Help The Fight website and Facebook page.

All proceeds will benefit the charity, which provides breast cancer patients with funds to buy groceries, pay rent and mortgages, and cover day care fees and medical bills. It also provides funds for cancer screenings.

"Wherever the need is of the patient is what we help with," Charles said. "We have filled oil tanks and put tires on a vehicle for a one-vehicle family. We have paid electric bills and bought Christmas presents by giving a family a Walmart gift card."

Charles lost her mother to breast cancer in 1989 at the age of 49. In March of 2009, her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. Soon after, the charity began.

"Within weeks of our sister's diagnosis, the assistant at our office was also diagnosed," Charles recalled. "My husband, Dave, and I wanted to be able to help. We held a bake sale to help with their expenses. We raised over $9,000." She said that in addition to the bake sale, the money was raised through sponsors and a sale of T-shirts.

In 2020, Help The Fight assisted about 200 individuals. "COVID shut things down for a while. Those that needed assistance or screenings did not get them. We had a real rush when things opened," Charles said. "Cancer is so unkind, and it does not stop during a pandemic."

Tickets for the designer purse giveaway must be purchased by Monday, March 22. For more information, to purchase tickets or to sponsor a handbag, readers may call 717-455-7095, email helpthefightnow@gmail.com or visit http://www.helpthefight.org or http://www.facebook.com/helpthefight.