Fundraiser for NIE to support love affair with shoes, purses

Everyone has one - if not several - loves in their lifetime.

For many women, shoes and handbags might be included on that list.

Yuma women will have a chance to satisfy both obsessions with an upcoming sale at the Women's Expo.

The Yuma Sun's Newspapers In Education (NIE) department will host the sale to benefit the NIE program.

Yuma County residents can drop off items such as purses, shoes, wallets, backpacks, briefcases and ties at the Yuma Sun office, 2055. S. Arizona Ave. No clothing will be accepted.

"We only want barely used and new," said NIE manager Karen Phillips.

Then, Phillips and others will sell the items at the May 1 Women's Expo.

The event, sponsored by Yuma Regional Medical Center and the American Business Women's Association, will be held from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. May 1 at the Yuma Civic Center. Admission is $2 at the door, with two-for-one admission coupons available from local sponsors.

The project is twofold, said Phillips. "We need people to donate these items and we need people to come out and buy these items."

Phillips said she got the idea for the fundraiser through networking with other industry professionals. 

Through NIE, 400 Yuma County teachers use 1,300 classroom editions of the Yuma Sun to help teach students about current events. Curriculum for the program is sponsored by fundraising business partnerships.

Phillips said students with NIE in the classroom score much higher on test scores than students who do not.

"It's a chance for them to learn through modern-day education," she said, because the newspaper is always current. "It's always a new environment that they're learning from."

Ads announcing various drop-off locations will begin running in the Yuma Sun on Tuesday.

Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.