FOFs Peggy Patterson and Judy Vojtech are giving away this stunning python-skin wallet from W.H. Petronela. Enter to win by answering in the comments below: Have you ever lost your wallet?
Thank you for entering. This contest is now closed.
Two Cleveland-based FOFriends, Peggy Patterson and Judy Vojtech, started a non-profit called
H.O.P.E. (Helping Other People Everyday) in 2008 with the mission of giving support to 18-22 year olds coming out of social services or the juvenile justice system. "Peggy and I were never blessed with kids, so our hearts were set on helping children. There’s one girl I've taken in as my 'pretend daughter.' She was born a heroin addict and she recently told me she finally realizes she has to be the one to take the stop and will do whatever it takes. It's been very rewarding."
Peggy and Judy ran the non-profit for a year, powered by their own money and some outside donations, but soon realized they needed to come up with other ways of fund-raising to truly fulfill their mission. "It's tough to always count on family and friends for donations. We really need to do something," says Judy.
In 2009, Peggy and Judy launched W.H. Petronela, a handbag label featuring timeless leather bags and accessories made from exotic skins. Peggy had always been an avid handbag collector, and Judy graduated from L.I.M. fashion school in New York.
They decided initially 10% of the profits from the handbags will support H.O.P.E., and they will up the percentage as they grow.
And my, are they growing! Last year their handbags were 'discovered' at a Henri Bendel open call for new designers. "We stood on line for three hours in the freezing cold and everyone was getting rejected," says Judy. "Then, when they saw ours, they asked us to do a trunk show. They liked the price point, the impeccable quality and the real exotic skins we use such as crocodile, sting ray, python, lizard and ostrich."
Since the trunk show at Bendel's, they've received international orders, a boom in business and even got the opportunity to display their bags in the window at the Henri Bendel store on Fifth Avenue. "They said it was the highest grossing sales from a window display they've ever had," said Judy.
"The bigger we get, the more we’d be able to donate to H.O.P.E." she says. Doesn't this story just tug on your purse-...er...heartstrings?
Enter to win a stunning python-skin wallet from W.H. Petronela by answering in the comments below: Have you ever lost your wallet?
(See all our past winners, here.)
(See official rules, here.)
Contest closes November 10, 2011 at midnight E.S.T.
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No, I have never lost my wallet….just the thought of it scares me half out of my mind! I have lost or mis-placed credit cards out of the wallet and that was frightening enough!
I LOST MY WALLET IN AN AIRPLANE BATHROOM AND DID NOT KNOW I HAD LEFT IT.WHEN I WAS IN CUSTOMS LINEA MAN TAPPED ME ON THE SHOULDER AND SAID I THINK THIS IS YOUR.I DIDNT EVEN KNOW I HAD LEFT IT THERE AND ALL THE MONEY WAS IN IT500.OO I ALMOST KISSED HIS FEET!!!
I’ve lost my wallet but it was a long time ago. Hope to not have to go through thagt again.
I am relieved to report that I have never lost my wallet.
Luckily, I have never lost my wallet….but twice I have lost credit cards that should have stayed in my wallet.
I used to just take my wallet in with me to the grocery store until I left it in the cart AFTER LOADING MY CAR AND DRIVING OFF 3 different times! Fortunately, all 3 times it was either turned in or still in the cart. This wallet is gorgeous and I would NEVER leave it!
I lost my wallet one time with everything in it, was getting gas and left it on my bumper, replaced my drivers license and someone mailed all my contents to me, I was very lucky!
Not for long-I have been able to retrieve my forgotten purse quickly but those few moments of panic are unforgettable!
Yes!! Some years ago I left my wallet in the dash in my car and someone broke into my car and stole EVERYTHING!! I had just got paid and it felt like a total violation your address on your license. Truly not a good feeling!!
No, I never lost my wallet and I never want to.
One time. But luckily it was found within an hour and returned unscathed.
I lost (it was stolen?) my wallet at a frat party in college. The weird thing was, my student ID came to me in the mail – with no return address – like 2 years later!
yes once and it cured me of keeping everything in one place. Now I split with 2 wallets and pray it never happens again.
thanks goodness – no !
I have lost my wallet once at an amusement park and had mine stolen from a job I worked at as well. They were never returned either time.
I’ve never lost my wallet, and I agree, it would be a really big inconvenience, the money can easily replaced, it’s all the cards and IDs that would take too much time out of my busy schedule to replace.
We were on vacation in New York and I had my purse stolen just as we were leaving our hotel. I have to admit that it shook me up for a long time.
Yes I had my wallet stolen once many years ago. The hardest part is replacing the personal ID, however, that day I was carrying a good amount of cash because I was going to finish paying off the “layaway” on furniture I had purchased.
I’ve never lost my wallet though I have had it stolen once
I have never had my purse or wallet stolen.
What a beautiful wallet. I have lost my wallet in the past, when I was on vacation what an awful experience
I have lost it several times in my house, but thankfully not outside the house.
Oh my, yes, twice!! Once i was the victim of a pickpocket at a department store. The second time I left my purse in my locked car outside my office, and the thieves broke my car window to get it. Our office shares the parking lot with the church next door, and there is a lot of street traffic in our little town. I am not surprised that the thief was apprehended.
No I have been so lucky that I haven’t ever lost my wallet before!
No, stolen once. Losing would make me nuts!
YES! One horrible day I lost my wallet while shopping at a Wal-mart! I had set it down next to me while outside taking a shopping break and forgot to pick it back up when I got up to leave. Discovered it after about a 20 min drive away from the store! I drove back and in a panic searched for it. Gone.
But some kind person had turned it in intact to Customer Service. I felt so lucky! Panicked like heck, but lucky.
Yes, and a nice young man called and found me and returned it!!
I am glad to say have not lost or had stolen purs or wallet, thank goodness.
I have lost my wallet several times.. One time I left it in a shopping cart.. Cart was found by person bringing carts back into store..The store manager called me to let me They had found my wallet. I didn’t know it was lost.
My purse was stolen while my daughter was in the hospital ..right out of our room- it was the most horrible time to have it happen- but insigificant in the long run compared to her health! I figured they needed it more
Fortunately, I’ve never lost an entire wallet. I once lost a small ID holder with my driver’s license and Visa card which never turned up.
I recently saw a story on the news about giant pythons running rampant in the Florida Everglades. I wonder if that’s where the snakeskin comes from.
stolen once, all they got was a bunch of bills and they didn’t even pay them!
I have lost my wallet in the past and it is not fun – I usually take good care of my things because I can’t afford to replace things I already own and I HAVE had my purse stolen a couple of times as well. What a hassle it is to replace important cards and necessities. I now keep a close eye on my purse and wallet whenever I am not in my own home. It is an integral piece of me and the wallet is probably more important than the bag itself and everything else in it. It’s hard to find a good wallet with all of the features one needs and I wouldn’t even have time to go wallet shopping if I had to. I like mine to last a LONG TIME!!!
I thankfully have never ever lost my wallet!… But I did find one on my honeymoon almost 30 years ago; in the elevator where we where we were staying in Hawaii. We turned it in to the consirer and hoped that they received it from them….p.s. still full of its contents!
I haven’t!!! I am so lucky in that regard!!
Yes I lost my wallet once. It was so much worse than I thought it would be. It is not about the cash. It is all the time it takes to look up all your credit card numbers and the phone numbers then call all the people. Then there is the worry and possible issue that someone has already used them and racked up some debt or that they stole you ID. (The person who took mine ran from Delaware south and made it to Georgia biting gas and food.) then there is the hit to your credit rating, even if no damage was done by the thief, just due the cancelled credit cards (and I had an excellent rating). then getting a new license and insurance card, and replacing a spare house key (glad they didn’t use it) and a few checks… That was not the worse of it all, the heartbreak is all the kids photos that you can’t just replace. I also carried a list of all my important phone numbers (before cell phone times) that I did not have a copy of. I NEVER was to go through that again!
I have had my purse stolen twice and lost it once but was returned to me intact not like when they were stolen!