AJ’s BBQ on Main celebrated their 10-year anniversary on April 1st, and as a way to continue the celebration, AJ Gillinger and his family have decided to give back to the community of Grapevine! On Saturday, May 6th, come join the fun by celebrating AJ’s and our community! The event is from 4PM to 9PM and will include live music, food, drinks with dancing, and of course – fun! As a regular of AJ’s it is not uncommon to push the tables aside and dance the night away. Meeting up with old friends and making new ones, AJ’s is always a place for fun, laughter and dancing! What’s so generous is that AJ’s on Main is incorporating helping the GRACE Food Pantry in their festivities! Having retired from the U.S. Air Force as well as the local police department, AJ has often reached out to GRACE for support within the

At long last, GRACE is very honored to welcome Park Place Dealerships to the top of the Sponsor Board for Designer Bags & Bingo. “At long last” because for more than a dozen years, GRACE and Park Place have been seeking a sponsoring opportunity equal to the prominence, generosity, and community-minded focus of the much-admired automotive group. As the Presenting Sponsor of this year’s Designer Bags & Bingo event, Sunday, May 7, at the Fidelity Investments headquarters in Westlake, Park Place has found a GRACE event to shower with its renowned influence and marketing mastery. And, with the right-of-first-refusal, we hope this partnership extends well into the future. Park Place has long been a strong supporter of GRACE Christmas Cottage. Many will remember the fabulous Christmas Cottage launch parties at the Lexus dealership in Grapevine. Mounds of toys, dolls, games, sporting equipment, and other fun stuff would spill from sleigh-red

For a second year in a row, GRACE collaborated with First Baptist Grapevine to put on another successful Faith & Finance Class for GRACE Clients and we must say that it was amazing! Financial stability is a very important part of becoming self-sufficient. Here at GRACE, we are always trying to find new ways to guide our clients on their journey into self-sufficiency, and our community helps us do this in so many special ways. One of those ways is our Faith & Finance Class The Faith & Finance class is a 9-week course, from the Chalmers Faith-Based Curriculum, which is designed to help individuals manage their finances, with the end goal being Christ-centered flourishing. This course was coordinated by Certified Public Accountant, Monica Huber, and Treva Donnelly. Throughout the course, GRACE clients were paired with mentors, who met with them during the week to pass on tools and advice

For the past fifteen years, the GRACE Community Garden has not only been a source of fresh produce for the local community, but it also serves as an educational resource. With 12 garden plots producing up to 2,500 pounds of organically grown produce a year, it helps supply much-needed nutrients to GRACE families. This year is looking to be a great one for the garden as mother nature has been on our side with ample growing weather! In honor of Earth Day, it only seemed fitting to take a look at what our green-thumbs in the GRACE Community Garden have been up to this spring. As with most activities at GRACE, it’s the volunteers who do the heavy lifting, scooping, raking, and shoveling that gets the job done. Master Gardener Caryn Hutchinson assisted by Robert “Bob” Dansby and Becca Clarke and many more have put so much time and attention

And that’s a wrap on another successful Volunteer Appreciation Week! This week brought us fun entertainment, great activities, and a host of dedicated volunteers, all ready to serve the community – superhero-style! GRACE values the service of each and every volunteer who steps foot on a GRACE site. From sorting clothes at the GRACE Donation Station to serving at GRACE events, GRACE Volunteers go above and beyond to make sure that the community is in good hands! This year’s Volunteer Appreciation Week theme was superheroes because we know that GRACE volunteers are always there to save the day. Many GRACE sites prepared festive parties for their volunteers throughout the week to celebrate their dedication to GRACE. The week concluded with the annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon, held at Whites Chapel Methodist Church and catered by WiseGuys Pizzeria and HTeaO. Hosted by Wonder Woman and Captain America, (GRACE CEO Shonda Schaefer and

While you are doing your Spring Cleaning this year, we have one ask for you, please think about Donation Station. The GRACE Donation Station is the entry point to all donated items. Volunteers are always needed during this time. The Donation Station sees over 400 cars a day, with numbers even higher during this time of year. Volunteers play a significant role at Donation Station. Greeting donors, handing out tax receipts and unloading donations, and taking them back inside to be processed, are just some of the major volunteer duties. Other duties at D.S. are sorting, hanging, and tagging donated items. Another idea for your spring cleaning time is to please consider donating to Donation Station. GRACE sees many individuals and families throughout the year, and many of your donations go toward those families who are in need of assistance at this very moment. Your pots and pans, your clothes,

Here at GRACE, we are always open to specialty projects for boy scouts, girl scouts, groups, and individuals who are looking to make a difference in the community. This is exactly what 17-year-old, Anna Hazel, decided to do to complete her Gold Project. Anna Hazel is a sophomore at Nolan Catholic High School and has been an avid GRACE volunteer for over six years. Volunteering for many of GRACE’s programs, especially GRACE’s Feed Our Kids is a highlight of her volunteer experience at GRACE. Anna is an advocate for services towards her community and has organized many projects for organizations throughout the community to benefit families and individuals. This year, she decided to do something a little different. As part of her Girls Scout Gold Award, Anna needed to organize a project that must meet the requirement of sustainability. After much thinking, Anna decided to start her project with 36

Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 22nd for the Tom and Susan Durant Foundation Wine Tasting Event featuring Larry White, level II Sommelier as he pours beautiful wines ranging from bubbly, red, whites and desserts. All proceeds raised will be matched 100% and will go to 13 local community organizations. These include: GRACE, 6 Stones, Gallant Few, RISE Adaptive Sports, Angel Fund of Trinity High School, VAST Community Outreach, Adaptive Training Foundation, Adriana’s Angels, Me Squared, Chari- T 2000, The Salvage Yard, Airborne Angel Cadets and The Tree of North Texas. The wine tasting will take place at Classic Chevrolet in the old Hummer building: 2501 William D. Tate, Building F, in Grapevine. This fantastic event begins at 6:30 PM – perfect for date night, a girl’s night out, or just a fun evening. Tickets are limited! Purchase now here so you don’t miss out. Thank you so much, Tom

This week, GRACE hallways were lined with love and 125 overflowing Easter baskets from our friends at Good Shepherd Catholic Community! Good Shepherd has donated baskets each year for families who come through our Client Services area, and we are happy to announce that each and every Easter basket is spoken for just in time for the big Sunday. The annual donation has become a long-standing and highly anticipated tradition. Clients look forward to picking out the extravagant, colorful baskets and begin asking about them each year as Easter approaches. This year, in addition to the hand-made Easter baskets were hand-written cards addressed to our client families from the wonderful volunteers at LDS! GRACE would not be able to operate without the support of local church congregations with a kindred desire to share God’s love with those in need. We are tremendously blessed to have the family at Good Shepherd

GRACE’s Designer Bags & Bingo (DBB) benefitting Transitional Housing is coming up on May 7th and it is officially SOLD OUT! This event will be an exciting afternoon full of laughter, Bingo, and most importantly, designer bags. This fun twist on Bingo allows players to compete for high-quality designer purses from Coach to Versace and everything in between, which is sure to bring on friendly competition. While individual seats may be sold out, there are still some fabulous sponsorship opportunities available! If you are interested in sponsoring this spectacular event, please contact Mark Woolverton at mwoolverton@gracegrapevine.org for more details. Designer Bags and Bingo is one of GRACE’s annual events that raise funds for GRACE’s impactful program, Transitional Housing. The Transitional Housing program works with homeless individuals and families to help move them toward self-sufficiency. Clients participate in intensive case management to help them achieve educational, career, and financial goals while living