At GRACE, part of our core mission is to guide our clients toward self-sufficiency. We are especially proud to see that even just volunteering for GRACE can be a major stepping stone toward self-sufficiency for local high school students.

GRACE has partnered with three special needs classes at Grapevine High School, Southlake Carroll High School and Coppell High School to provide special needs adults and students with regular volunteering times at Donation Station.

The Transitions classes are designed to provide older students with life and social skills they will need to transition to adulthood. Students learn cooking and independent living, leisure, and job skills. Part of their training includes regular volunteering at GRACE Donation Station at the end of the school day once a week.

At their regular volunteer time, Transitions students not only help GRACE complete essential sorting and testing tasks. They also gain valuable job experience according to Grapevine High School teachers Karen Donegan and Diane Foster. They build a sense of civic pride because their work helps others in our community.

The program has been so successful that GHS has sent students to Donation Station for nearly seven years.

GRACE has recently partnered with the Transitions classes at Southlake Carroll High School and Coppell High School. We look forward to their diligent help, and we are happy to help them build beginning job skills in the process!

Some had difficulties reaching the Donor Bridge site because so many generous souls were trying to donate to numerous charities across DFW so that we could receive matching funds from the Communities Foundation of North Texas. This tremendous response meant that the Donor Bridge server simply could not handle all the love at once.

If you tried to donate through Donor Bridge and were unable to do so, you can always give directly to GRACE on our website. You can specify at any time where you would like your gift to go so that we can make sure the pantry shelves are filled, that another child will have clothes for school, or that a woman in transitional housing will begin a new life. 

If you shop at Tom Thumb, each time you spend $50 or more this month you have an opportunity to collect a "Community Buck" that you can give to GRACE. Each Buck is worth $1 and will go towards purchasing much-needed supplies for our food pantry. Tom Thumb began distributing Community Bucks on September 1st and will continue until September 30th.

 
Community Bucks can be delivered to any GRACE Location:

• Style and GRACE, 2030 Glade Rd Ste. 238
• GRACE Food Pantry, 837 E. Walnut St.
• GRACEful Buys, 418 E. NW Hwy.
• GRACE Donation Station, 112 N. Scribner
• GRACE Main Offices, 610 Shady Brook Dr.

or mail them to GRACE, P.O. Box 412, Grapevine TX 76099 attn: Rusty Thigpen.

GRACE must redeem all Community Bucks by October 10th, so be sure to get them to us as early as possible. Last year GRACE collected over 1,753 Bucks. Our goal is to collect more than 2,000 Community Bucks this year!