Sunday night, in the beautiful dining hall at Mac’s on Main in Grapevine, members of the Congregation Beth Israel celebrated another tremendous fundraising success. The “Wide World of Sports Casino Night” held January 21 soared past all expectations and obliterated all previous records! In accepting a gift of $6,300 from the group, GRACE Chief Development Director Mark Woolverton reminisced that it all started with a sub sandwich. Rather, a bagful of sub sandwiches from Grapevine Subs & More. Sam Felberbaum, the proprietor of Grapevine Subs at the time, had a brilliant fundraising idea: a casino night event to benefit several local charitable agencies, including GRACE. Sam’s purpose of the meeting was to learn some of the “tricks of the trade” of doing special events, and relay the information on to his volunteer team, the CBI Brotherhood, a group of community-spirited people associated with Congregation Beth Israel, a Reform Jewish community

February 14th is a special day for many people. It’s a day for loved ones to express how they feel about one another. Some buy flowers, some go out to lunch and others prepare a four-course meal for GRACE clients. Whatever is it that the people do, we all understand that it’s all from the kindness of their hearts. Mac’s on Main’s Rena Frost understands the meaning of giving back to the community. After all, she was selected as GRACE’s 2021 Volunteer of the Year. For the second year in a row, Rena and her Mac’s on Main staff expressed their love by inviting the GRACE Transitional Housing women to enjoy a nice four-course meal at Mac’s on Main. This wonderful gesture of love and friendship gave our clients the opportunity to interact with one another while also learning more about Rena and her staff. The meal came with an

Another Colleyville Chamber Awards Banquet is now in the books with the most recent being the Colleyville Chamber awards. Along with the fun of mingling with attendees and congratulating recipients and nominees, the Colleyville Chamber Awards’ purpose is to highlight individuals, organizations, and companies’ accomplishments and works throughout the past year. Their works not only raise awareness for community cohesiveness, but it reminds everyone there is always a way to be a good neighbor in your community. Here are the awards, winners, and nominees for the Colleyville Chamber awards for 2023. Chairman’s Award Mark Alfonso & Kylan Hoss Ambassador of the Year Kylan Hoss New Member of the Year Within Chiropractic Youth of the Year Natalie Poveda & Jenna Hurley Large Business of the Year Community Waste Disposal Small Business of the Year Buttermilk Sky Pie Outstanding Service Organization Serving Our Senior Member of the Year Megan Volmer- Smart Realty

Last Friday, GRACE had the pleasure of partnering with the Grapevine Police Department and First Baptist Church to present an event coined “Neighbors at the Table”. Police Department employees made a variety of crockpot recipes and allowed families to taste each and vote on their favorite. In addition, holiday-themed snacks and desserts were served. As the evening came to a close, each family who registered for the event took home a crock pot recipe book and a crock pot. Eighteen families registered for the event and enjoyed visiting with their neighbors as well as staff and volunteers from each of the three agencies. Fran Almazan brought home the trophy for favorite meal with her famed Cauliflower Chowder. The Neighbors at the Table event will likely become an annual event, so keep your eyes peeled for how you can get involved next time!    

Another GRACE Poker Tournament is in the books, and what an spectacular night at Park Place Jaguar-Land Rover DFW it was. Amazing door prizes, delicious appetizers, and healthy competition helped to warm everyone up from a week full of crazy Texas weather! For the second year in a row, the Poker Tournament happened to fall on a weekend when DFW is recovering from a winter storm. Fortunately, that has never stopped our wonderful community members from coming out and supporting GRACE! As guests checked in, they could smell the scent of Ted Bilsky’s Scratch Kitchen and Fine Foods filling the showroom. GRACE’s CEO, Shonda Schaefer, invited everyone to the bar to have a drink (with the help of Classic Wine and Hop & Sting Brewery) and to try some of Ted’s delicious foods. Also, compliments of Debra Perryman with Silver Oak Commercial Realty, we had an expert from DFW Cigar

For the second year in a row, GRACE was honored to be one of the beneficiaries for this year’s Bat Ball and we must say, we had a super time! Established in 2015, Grapevine’s Dark Knight quickly became a ministry for putting smiles on the faces of young and old alike. From appearing in hospitals as Batman himself or teaching Sunday school at White’s Chapel in Southlake, Jason Parker knows how to put a smile on your face. His sense of humor and passion for the community inspires people to become their own hero. This year, the Bat Ball was held at the Lancaster Theatre Reception Hall. As guests entered, Grapevine’s Dark knight greeted everyone with warm hugs and fun pictures. Many individuals came out supporting their favorite D.C superhero and/or villain in some of the greatest cosplay one can only find here in Grapevine. The BatBall included a live

The City of Grapevine is GRACE’s home. It is vibrant, growing, unique, and thriving. But if there is one quality the GRACE staff is thankful for above all others, it’s that the staff, elected officials, and leadership committees of the city work to remain aware of all the facets of their city. The City of Grapevine has been an ally of GRACE since its founding. We have partnered together for decades to provide a safety net of support and resources designed to assure that the residents of Grapevine and the service industry workers that make this city the destination it is are being well cared for. At the February 6th City Council meeting, GRACE CEO, Shonda Schaefer gave city officials a ‘State of GRACE’ update ahead of the release of the funds already approved to support GRACE programs and services. Here are the highlights presented to City Council: 741 families

GRACE would like to introduce the 2023 GRACE Gala Co-Chairs, Madeline and David Ricci! GRACE is thrilled to embark on this year’s planning adventure with two spectacular Co-Chairs! David is originally from Milwaukee, Wi. and Madeline from Miami Fl. and have been married for 22 years. They have two daughters, Amber and Nina. Together they decided to embark on a journey that neither of them could have dreamed of. They spent a combined 50 years in Corporate America. David held senior leadership roles for several Fortune 500 companies. Madeline spent eighteen years in management roles at Associate Financial Services where she became a thought leader on customer experience. When the stock market crashed in 2008, the Ricci’s decided to start embarking on their own businesses, the first being Bilingual Notary Network (BNN Services). BNN Services is a national signing company that relies on cutting-edge technology, integration capabilities, problem solving, and

Our donors and volunteers often give their time, resources, and financial support to the GRACE mission without getting to see first hand the effects it has on our clients. With clients’ privacy as a high priority, this is understood to be the standard. However, when we do receive heart-warming messages back from clients, we want to share them with those who made it all happen. Recently, one of the Christmas Cottage clients reached out to share the following message: Thank you for the help and support you have provided during these tough times that my family and I have gone through. If not for this program, I am not sure what we would have done.  We would’ve definitely been evicted. We would’ve definitely been without electricity for a bit. And, we would’ve definitely had a much more somber Christmas.  When Jamé told me about the cottage, I didn’t think much

Welcome to GRACE Volunteer Corner! Good February 4th everyone. I hope you are staying warm, especially having another cold snowy, and Icy week! Here at GRACE we truly appreciate our volunteers and the hard work they do for us. With that, we are going to start doing a weekly update to all GRACE supporters; spotlighting volunteer opportunities and our hard-working volunteers. Volunteering at GRACE is a great way to get involved in this beloved community. We have many opportunities for you to do so, and we want to make sure everyone knows what GRACE needs, what the opportunities are, what the qualifications are, and how to sign up for volunteering. Upcoming Volunteer Orientations The first step in being a GRACE volunteer is to get oriented with us! Through the volunteer orientation, individuals will have an opportunity to learn more about the GRACE organization, mission, and culture (something in that volunteers