FAIRBURY, NE — An annual effort in southeast Nebraska aiming to help victims of domestic violence is under way again.

"We are so appreciative," Hope Crisis Center CEO Carmen Hinman said. "We couldn't without our communities supporting our organization and our mission."

Hope Crisis Center CEO Carmen Hinman is talking about the Purple Bin Project. From the start of October through Thanksgiving the organization is taking donations at its five offices in the region. The items go to survivors of domestic violence the organization is dedicated to helping.

"[We're looking for] basic necessities they may flee their home from and not have on hand with them at the time," Hinman said. "We try to do everything we can to stock them up for that immediate crisis time."

The project asks for people to give paper products, soaps, toiletries and other basic items to help people who are starting over after leaving their situations.

The Purple Bin project used to be a stuff the van event held every year in Fairbury, but was adapted to its current format during the pandemic. Hinman says there's benefits to the new donation drive, which spans over a month instead of a single day. 

"The beauty of the Purple Bin Project now is it's throughout all of our seven counties, meaning there's an office location close by most of the counties," Hinman said. 

Now the Hope Crisis Center says local businesses want to participate and have bins at their locations. Hinman says they’ll take that step next year.

"Because we are a nonprofit we do a lot of begging and our communities seem to step up to the plate," she said. "We are forever grateful for generosity."

For this year donations can be dropped off at any Hope Crisis Center location. They nonprofit has offices in Fairbury, Beatrice, Crete, Seward and York. The offices are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. You can find a full list of items they're seeking at hopecrisiscenter.org.