GRACE Grapevine’s 19th annual gala will be held on Saturday.
The gala is one of the biggest fundraisers for GRACE—a nonprofit that “provides assistance to individuals and families in crisis with guidance toward self-sufficiency.”
CEO Shonda Schaefer said, “These last couple of years have been tough for us and for others, but we keep serving because that is what we are here to do.”
“Often times that’s all a family needs to stay in it. Maybe just some money to get a car fixed so that a parent can make it to work and won’t lose their paycheck,” she continued. “We really try to fill in the gaps. The gala helps us do that every year,”
Based in Grapevine, GRACE has helped thousands of families in need with bills, clothing, housing, and medical needs.
“If you just put yourself in their shoes, what would it take for you to walk into a strange building with strange people and admit that you can’t afford to put food on the table for your own family? The dignity that we try to maintain is because we can all see ourselves in those shoes,” said Schaefer.
Tickets to the gala can be acquired here.
GRACE believes “that encouraging self-sufficiency will, in turn, encourage community cohesiveness. Compassion and assistance are offered as a response to God’s grace by local churches in partnership with municipalities, businesses, civic organizations, and individuals.”
The organization was founded in 1987 in response to the growing need for emergency assistance services in far northeast Tarrant County. Local churches responded to community needs with a plan for distributing available resources through Grapevine’s Ministerial Alliance.
Today, GRACE continues to be a centralized, coordinated effort of churches, businesses, and individuals donating food, clothing, monetary donations, and even professional services to Grapevine, Colleyville, and Southlake residents, as well as homeless and transient families in need.
