SPECIAL NOTICE: Our good friends at the Colleyville Rotary Club have put up $5,000 as matching funds for the 24 Hours of GRACE campaign. Your gifts through this weekend will be matched by the club.

The 2023 24 Hours of GRACE is almost at its end. Our books will be open for just little longer in case you had computer/connectively issues, or, like many people, you really need 32 hours in a day to do everything you need to do!

Thus far, as is always the case, our community has responded in a very generous way! Support for the GRACE Hunger Services has been astounding. BUT, please know as fast as our warehouse fills, it empties just as fast! That’s the nature of Hunger Relief—it only lasts for a short while. We have to be constantly on the search for food and funding. But for today, and the near future, gifts and pledges for 24 Hours of GRACE have re-energized the GRACE mission and strengthened our hunger programs and services.

Our Self-Select Food Pantry and warehouse will be restocked and readied for the coming weeks. Senior Commodities will deliver groceries directly to homes. Feed Our Kids and GRACE Grocery Giveaway can look forward to a terrific summer. Seeds and plant sets will be planted in the Community Gardens.

GRACE is truly blessed to have such generous friends. The GRACE mission is only a canal that flows with the generosity of our community to those in need. Your support not only feeds the hungry, it provides stability, strengthening families, and easing the day-to-day struggles facing so many of our clients.

GRACE is honored, humbled, and grateful to play a small role in ensuring your gifts are used efficiently and effectively to relieve hunger in our neighborhoods. Because of your generosity, many families will continue their journeys to self-sufficiency.

So far, hundreds of donors have stepped forward during 24 Hours of GRACE. Many with recurring gifts for the coming year. Others have increased the amount of their recurring gifts to help fill our Food Pantry.

GRACE is the place where people come to help neighbors in need. Whether gifts are financial contributions, donations of goods and materials, or volunteered time, GRACE is privileged to be part of this wonderful caring community.

Even though our 24 Hours of GRACE is nearing the end for this year, your gifts are needed and appreciated every day. Thank you for all you do the help those we serve.

We have officially kicked off our 2023 seasonal lunch program! Feed Our Kids Spring Break Edition was a huge success. Our dedicated volunteers and families showed up through every spring weather condition, from cold to rain to warm, bright sunshine! It was wonderful to see all the giant smiles and friendly, familiar faces. Most of our kids arrived excited and hungry directly from the City Spring Break Sports Camp!

During Spring Break, only two of our summer locations serve lunch – and we were busy! We are grateful for our friends and volunteers from both First Baptist Grapevine and First United Methodist Church, Grapevine who hosted and served. We saw an increase in attendance from 2022 and served 494 lunches to our kids. If you include the surprised parents who also received a yummy hot off the grill burger at GRACE main on Friday, we served 525 lunches last week!

As we prepare for Feed Our Kids summertime edition, we extend an invitation to you to volunteer with us. Feed Our Kids runs solely on volunteers. Choosing a day or week, volunteers provide and serve lunch at one of six sites within our community. Leading children in games, crafts, and activities are just icing on the cake to ensure that each child leaves with a full belly and a smile on their face.

For more information on how you can be a part of Feed Our Kids, please contact GRACE’s Seasonal Programs Coordinator, Beth Chernik at bchernik@GRACEGrapevine.org. You do not want to miss this opportunity to make a difference in a summer day of a child!

A group of north Texas fitness enthusiasts decided to turn their workouts into an amazing donation to GRACE this past month.  With the help of John Brown, Nicole Jameson wanted to set some amazing goals with working out this year for a milestone birthday.  Both workout at F45 Studios (with locations in Flower Mound, Keller and Southlake) and at F45 the concept is 45-minutes of “Functional” movements both cardio and strength based to get you in the best shape of your life. Nicole and John have been known for doing 2 or 3 sessions in a day, so they thought why not just complete every class scheduled in one day and find a good local community building organization to raise money for?  Well they took on the challenge with fierce determination!

“As the day approached, I began my usual prep as if I was doing a long distance mud race (Spartan, Tough Mudder)’, John stated. “ I wanted to make sure I would be able to finish out the day strong”.

Thanks to their dedication, and their workout community at F45, they took on the day, worked out from 4:30 am until late in the evening and raised money for GRACE.  By turning their “sweat into cash”, this amazing group is truly helping their community and those in need!

If you have a group who wants to help your community through GRACE, please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@gracegrapevine.org.

Southlake Women’s Club recently chose GRACE for a grant from the proceeds of the Art in the Square festival in April. GRACE is so appreciative for the ongoing relationship and support from this group!

Tens of thousands of visitors flock to Southlake Town Square to view the curated artwork and fabulous entertainers that take the stage each of the three nights of Art in the Square. This fine art jubilee, which takes place from April 28-30, is not without your favorite festival food and beverages, and if quality family fun does not get your attention—free admission might!

Emerging artists also have a chance to shine during this event, by competing in contests and performing live on the event’s two main stages. It has become a fixture in Southlake’s already stellar reputation for artistry and handsome urban culture. Art in the Square will display 150 of some of the nation’s top artists to benefit local charities supporting women, children and families.

The Club’s funding committee distributes grants to local nonprofits in the community. This year Grace is one of 28 nonprofits in the community they are supporting. They carefully select each beneficiary based on the current needs of the organization. To date, Art in the Square has dispersed over $3M in funds to those charities.

GRACE is beyond excited to once again be a part of this event, and we hope you are too! Come out April 28-30 to have fun, see the art, and support them supporting us!

For more information on how you can be a part of Art in the Square please visit their website here. We hope to see you there!

Our annual “24 Hours of GRACE” is next Thursday, March 23. We are asking for recurring gifts to support our Hunger Services.

Over the years gifts to “24 Hours” have funded GRACE Emergency Services, the Community Clinic, Transitional Housing, Senior Services, and Children’s Services. In the last few years, “24 Hours” was dedicated to the GRACE response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even now with the pandemic “over”, next Thursday our “24 Hours of GRACE” will ask you to help us provide food to those now facing the impact of escalating inflation and a failing economy.

Food is the single largest constant in requests coming to GRACE. Our Hunger Services have expanded in recent years to provide additional opportunities for those in need.

GRACE hunger relief includes a Self-Select Food Pantry; Senior Commodities that brings groceries and home goods to the mobility-challenged; a summer feeding program for children named “Feed Our Kids”; GRACE Grocery Giveaway visiting at-risk neighborhoods with ample supplies of meat, bread, produce, and dairy; Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday meal distributions; and the Community Gardens which give “green thumb” volunteers the chance to provide fruits and vegetables for our clients’ tables.

You will learn much more about all of our Hunger Services next Thursday when we come to you for help on behalf of our clients and their families. Literally, it is “feast or famine” for GRACE. During November and December, schools, businesses, civic organizations, and many others hold food drives to help fill our shelves. For the most part, we rely on Operating Funds to provide for the remainder of the year.

We will be asking for one-time gifts or, even better, a monthly commitment to help feed those in need. Your monthly commitment—a Recurring Gift–can form a stable source of support that we can budget on, month-after-month. Next Thursday, we will ask you for a recurring gift to support our Hunger Services.

A promise of funding-to-come allows us to anticipate the needs of our clients, and project future costs. This “24 Hours of GRACE” is your chance to do the very most good for the people GRACE serves.

This year’s “24 Hours” may be the most important online campaign we have mounted to date. Food is first-level priority on a hierarchy scale of human motivation. In real terms, hunger needs must be satisfied before our clients can attend to higher needs. (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory)

GRACE will continue taking on each families’ struggles one-by-one, and assuring each their troubles will ultimately end, and they will be stronger and more self-reliant because of their valiant fight.

But only with your help.

Your recurring gift of $500 or more annually, gives us a chance to thank you and declare your generosity to the rest of the community: we will deliver a “Choose GRACE” sign suitable for mounting in your front lawn.

Your “Choose GRACE” sign will let everyone know you have made a gift to secure the future of GRACE. GRACE needs your help now more than ever—your generous recurring gift will help GRACE and our community finally put this crisis behind us, and look forward to a secure, healthy, and stable future.

We also ask you to spread the word about “24 Hours of GRACE” and the significance of recurring gifts. As last year passed, more and more donors came forward with recurring gifts: weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, and even quarterly.

A promise from you to support GRACE with a recurring gift elevates the capacity of GRACE to serve and helps us plan months down the road. A monthly gift provides stability and strengthens our ability to anticipate the future needs of our clients.

This coming week you will receive messages from Shonda Schaefer, our Chief Executive Officer. On Thursday, she will ask you to please make a pledge—a vow to give on a recurring basis.

It’s hard for many of our clients to keep the end goal in sight. Our Hunger Services help them overcome that first barrier and gives them the confidence they can overcome all of their difficulties.

More than a mere handout, families and individuals who come for food assistance at GRACE are able to self-select items they want. The GRACE Food Pantry uses a voucher system for clients to shop and choose the groceries that meet the cultural and dietary needs of their households. Currently, GRACE sees about 600 clients per month, and we pride ourselves on giving families and individuals a hand up, not a hand out in getting them on their feet and on their way into a sustainable life.

Whether it be as a donor or volunteer, you can always serve at the Food Pantry. There are many ways to help! One easy way to help is by bringing donations to the GRACE Food Pantry between 9:00 and 5:00 Monday through Friday. The Food Pantry current needs list can be found here. In addition, here is our Amazon Wish List, which can be a quick way to donate straight from the comfort of your home.

Another way of helping the GRACE Food Pantry is as a volunteer. At the Food Pantry, volunteers help sort, price, and stock food items. Seasoned volunteers help with the cash register and assist clients, ensuring that everyone has a positive visit to the GRACE Food Pantry.

With the partnership we have with Tarrant Area Food Bank, we are able to buy available food through monetary donations as well. Your donation will go a long way to helping to fill our pantry shelves this year.

Thank you for thinking of GRACE when considering the different ways you can serve the community. Your time, gifts, and service to our community is appreciated by every client and staff here at GRACE! Again, for more information on which items to donate, please visit our current needs list here. For more information on how to start volunteering, please contact GRACE’s Volunteer Manager, at Volunteer@GRACEGrapevine.org.