Help a Mum in Need this Mother's Day

#ItsInTheBag is Share the Dignity's annual event where we encourage every day Australians to donate a bag to someone in need for Christmas. The bags are filled with essential items and are distributed to 3,000 Australian charities that have registered with us. 

Collections for 2022 will be open from November 18-27.

If you would still like to donate outside of our collection dates you have two options:

1. Mail your donation directly to us:
   Share the Dignity
   PO Box 345
   Virginia QLD 4014
2. Sponsor a bag through our website and we will pack it for you.

Collection points for #ItsInTheBag are closed and will reopen November 18-27 2022.

We are a primarily volunteer-run organisation, and unfortunately do not have the volunteer power to arrange collection outside these times.

You can post your bags to us: Share the Dignity, PO Box 345, Sandgate QLD 4017.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept these items:

• Used or open items
• Pharmaceutical items (including condoms, throat lozenges, medication and vitamins)
• Food and drinks of any kind (including tea, gum, mints)
• Sharp objects (including knives, razors and scissors)
• Loose tampons and pads
• Used clothing (including bras)

Nail clippers and sewing kits are fine, so long as they are new and unopened.

Please remember:

• The bag itself needs to be in good condition but can be a pre-loved handbag or backpack
• All donations must be brand new, still sealed and in their original packaging
• Separated bulk pack items must be individually sealed
• All donations must comply with TGA packaging standards 
• Handmade items must be brand new, not used, (packaged if possible) with a note saying ‘handmade/new by [name]’.

Essentials for Adult bags

• Period products (pads, tampons, reusable pads, period-proof underwear and menstrual cups). 
• Shampoo (full size preferred)
• Conditioner (full size preferred)
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Deodorant (roll-on preferred)
• Soap or body wash

Don't include

• Used or open items
• Pharmaceutical items (including condoms, throat lozenges, medication and vitamins)
• Food and drinks of any kind (including tea, gum, mints)
• Sharp objects (including razors and scissors)
• Loose tampons and pads
• Used clothing (including bras)

Nail clippers and sewing kits are fine, so long as they are new and unopened.

Please remember

• The bag itself needs to be in good condition but can be a pre-loved handbag or backpack
• All donations must be brand new, still sealed and in their original packaging
• Please do not separate out bulk packs
• All donations must comply with packaging TGA code of practice
• All handmade items must be brand new and not used

Essentials for Teen bags

• Period products suitable for young bodies (pads, tampons, reusable pads, period-proof underwear and menstrual cups).
• Shampoo (full size preferred)
• Conditioner (full size preferred)
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Deodorant (roll-on preferred)
• Soap or body wash

Unfortunately, we cannot accept these items:

• Used or open items
• Pharmaceutical items (including condoms, throat lozenges, medication and vitamins)
• Food and drinks of any kind (including tea, gum, mints)
• Sharp objects (including razors and scissors)
• Loose tampons and pads 
• Used clothing (including bras)

Nail clippers and sewing kits are fine, so long as they are new and unopened.

Please remember

• The bag itself needs to be in good condition but can be a pre-loved handbag or backpack
• All donations must be brand new, still sealed and in their original packaging
• Please do not separate out bulk packs
• All donations must comply with packaging TGA code of practice
• All handmade items must be brand new and not used

Essentials for Mum & bub bags

• Period products suitable for mums (Maternity pads)
• Shampoo (full size preferred)
• Conditioner (full size preferred)
• Toothbrush & toothpaste
• Deodorant (roll-on preferred)
• Soap or body wash
• Breast pads
• Newborn nappies
• Baby Shampoo & Conditioner
• Baby soap or wash
• Disposable nappy bags
• Baby wipes
• Dummies
• Nappy rash cream

Please identify a Mum & bub bag by using a purple bag tag or ribbon

Unfortunately, we cannot accept these items:

• Used or open items
• Pharmaceutical items (including condoms, throat lozenges, medication and vitamins)
• Food and drinks of any kind (including tea, gum, mints)
• Sharp objects (including razors and scissors)
• Loose tampons and pads
• Used clothing (including bras)

Nail clippers and sewing kits are fine, so long as they are new and unopened.

Please remember

• The bag itself needs to be in good condition but can be a pre-loved handbag or backpack
• All donations must be brand new, still sealed and in their original packaging
• Please do not separate out bulk packs
• All donations must comply with packaging TGA code of practice
• All handmade items must be brand new and not used

No. All donations must be brand new, still sealed in their original packaging and must comply with standards set by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, particularly around packing and labelling.

Pads, tampons must be in brand new, unopened packaging.

Handmade items must be brand new and not used, in a package with instructions, where it was made, by who and use of product information.

Please don't include these items in your bags. You can reach out to your local charities (like domestic violence refuges) to see if they would like a donation. Find your nearest on Ask Izzy.

If you have a large donation, you can still take them to Bunnings Store between 18-27 November 2022. Don’t worry, we have our volunteers emptying the large collection boxes multiple times a day so they will fit!

We prefer roll-on deodorant as some of the charities we work with prefer them as there is no risk of chroming and this causing harm. However, this is not all charities. Which is why we ask you to please choose roll-on deodorant if you can, but if you want to include impulse or a spray we will pass them on to charities and let them make the choice when they hand out the bags.

Full-sized items are preferred so they will last longer for the recipient, however, hotel-sized items will still be accepted.

Our wonderful volunteers (Sheroes) inspect the bag to ensure all the essentials there. If we come across any prohibited items, they are removed and offered separately to registered charities, if the items are safe for them to accept.

As a predominantly volunteer-based charity, Share the Dignity doesn't have the facilities, resources or Shero-power to organise collections directly.

We are a national charity, so depending on what the charities have requested, most donations will stay in the state but if donations are needed in other parts of Australia and we have surplus to share, we would ship them to where they are needed.

We will accept empty bags. The bags can be new or used. If you are using a pre-loved handbag, we ask that it is in great condition, clean and no clear signs of use.

Feel free to add other brand-new items into the collection bins that can be used for other bags, we are often short on essentials.

Please post your items to us: Share the Dignity, PO Box 345, Virginia QLD 4014.

As a predominantly volunteer-based charity, Share the Dignity doesn't have the facilities, resources or volunteer power to organise collections directly.

Absolutely! They need to be brand new, in packaging that meets the TGA guidelines for menstrual cups.

The items can be open but MUST NOT BE USED, even lightly. 

This means for:

• Period undies there must be tags on or still in their boxes
• Menstrual cups must be packaging and instructions that include information on Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS)
• Reusable pads must be packaged and include
• The name of your product
• Instructions for use
• List of products used to create the item
• The name and address of the manufacturer or the sponsor
• The batch number or serial number for the product contained within the pack
• If your product comes in multiple sizes, the size of the unit contained in the pack

Once collected, all bags are checked by our volunteers (Sheroes) before being taken to the charities. We remove any prohibited items, but the bags remain fairly intact from how they were donated otherwise. Removed items are offered separately to registered charities if the items are safe for them to accept.

If you'd like to, you can become a local collection point. We won't be advertising any collection points outside of Bunnings stores, but we know so many of you are working hard to collect too! All you need to do is make sure all the bags you've collected are donated to any Bunnings store before close of business, on the last day of the collection points being open.