About Townsend Leather
Angel Collection Handbags
Townsend Leather has always had a passion for beautiful leather and expert artisanship; they have now turned to their passion of community. Townsend Leather recognized the great impact cancer had on the employees and their friends and families. In an effort to find, a meaningful way to acknowledge this impact, Townsend Leather decided to start making handbags. Using a product (highest quality leather) that we were all familiar with, and presenting it in a way that was functional, beautiful and eye-catching (handbags) was the plan for bringing attention to and honoring our fallen friends and family and as a way to raise money for cancer research.
At the time, a good friend of some of the employees at Townsend Leather, Terry Brindle, was fighting cancer herself. However, Terry was not a typical patient; she was making a huge impact on the community by presenting a truly inspirational, positive, and uplifting message. She was spending time doing clinical trials and giving speeches. The cancer was taking its toll on her though and her friends saw a great opportunity for her to continue to spread her message and to keep her mind and body active, in designing handbags. Therefore, Townsend proudly connected with Terry Brindle and gave her the freedom and opportunity to design the first Terry Brindle Townsend Leather handbag collection. Terry designed each of the Angel collection handbags and worked closely with Townsend on the production of the handbags. After having fought and won a battle against breast cancer, Terry found herself having to fight ovarian cancer. She had a message to share and found beautiful ways to share it, though her words and just her presence. As well as through her artwork of handcrafted angel magnets, and angel t-shirts. Her hope was that her beautiful granddaughter, Leah, would not have to live in a world with cancer. Terry’s message rung out loud and clear in everything she did and in the countless people she touched, she was always “supporting a future that holds no place for cancer”. Townsend was so touched and proud to be able to work with Terry. Unfortunately, just before the first production of the handbags were ready to sell, Terry Brindle passed away from ovarian cancer. Townsend was hugely effected by this, as was the community at large and of course, Terry’s family. But as Terry wished and instructed, Townsend put even more energy in keeping Terry’ message alive. Townsend now offers four handbags in the Angel collection, all of them designed by Terry Brindle and each handbag sold gives $25 to MSKCC where Terry had spent time involved in clinical trials.
MSKCC, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is based in New York City. When Terry participated in an ovarian cancer clinical trial in 2008, she was impressed with the extraordinary technical expertise of the people there, as well as the genuine compassion they displayed. Memorial Sloan-Kettering is the world’s oldest and largest private institution dedicated to prevention, patient care, and education in cancer. Its scientists and clinicians generate innovative approaches to better understand, diagnose, and treat cancer. Its specialists are leaders in biomedical research and in translating the latest research to advance the standard of care worldwide. www.mskcc.org
Townsend Leather makes beautiful upholstery leather for interior designs in business and commercial aircraft, in yachts, automobiles and luxury motor coaches, and for residential, hospitality and office furniture applications.
The Kucel family founded Townsend in 1969. Our state-of-the-art factory of 110,000 SF is located in upstate New York, about 50 miles NW of Albany. We are craftsmen and manufacturers of leather, not jobbers, distributors, or marketers. We produce all our own leather to exact specifications, and take great pride in our level of workmanship, quality control, and customer service. As an experienced, hands-on manufacturer, Townsend has complete control over the entire leather-making process, from the worldwide sourcing of hides to the drum-dyeing and finishing of all our leathers in our own factory. Quality, consistency, and attention to customer specifications and schedules are assured.
Townsend Leather Angel Collection handbags are made with the finest leather in the world, each product is manufactured with great attention to detail. We take pride in the passion and expertise our craftspeople have in being able to create beautiful works of art with hand-crafted leather, durable hardware, vegetable retanned trim. Townsend Leather Angel Collection handbags are made to the highest quality of standards and encompass the knowledge needed to create a wonderful product.
The Angel Collection was inspired and designed by Terry Brindle, a breast cancer survivor who succumbed to ovarian cancer on September 30, 2009. Terry was an incredible woman who designed the Angel collection handbags as a way to make people aware and supportive of cancer research. After defeating breast cancer, Terry battled ovarian cancer for nearly six years. Her life as a cancer survivor and patient was focused on helping those afflicted with cancer and on raising money for research she believed will eventually eliminate this tragic disease.
For more information about cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and the lesser-known link of breast cancer and ovarian cancer visit these websites:
For more information about Townsend Leather Angel Collection, handbags please visit: www.TLTownsendLeather.com or email info@tltownsendleather.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter.
Thank you for "supporting a future that holds no place for cancer" – Terry Brindle
