ABC Public Relations Donates $16,000
To Area Charitable Organizations
On August 13, 2019, the ABC Public Relations Committee presented charitable fund donations from the proceeds of the 2019 ABC Cook-off as follows:
Brazoria County Dream Center - $5,000.00
Military Moms and Wives of Brazoria County - $5,000.00
Brazosport Cares/PowerPacks - $5,000
The Public Relations Committee made a donation towards the ABC Christmas Holiday Food Drive - $1,000.00
A description of services provided by the proposed organizations is listed below.
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BRAZORIA COUNTY DREAM CENTER
Mission Statement: The Brazoria County Dream Center is a nonprofit community outreach enter dedicated to helping children and adults in Brazoria County who are experiencing hardships.
Our programs:
Dream Pantry
Clients are required to bring a Photo ID, Proof of address, income, and the same information for each household member. The Dream Pantry is set up like a Grocery Store, where the individuals are given a Digital Ecard which is loaded with points according to their household size. Each household is entitled to one Ecard and are responsible to budget their points throughout the month. The household member can visit the pantry when they NEED to go shopping which can be no more than once a day. This works well for our homeless individuals who cannot carry as many products in their backpacks and gives them the opportunity to pick up a cold water in the summer or hot coffee in the winter. The documented homeless or those that walk received 2 Connect Transit Bus passes at each visit. The Pantry sees an average of 90 – 120 households in one day (50 – 60 on Wednesday). We are open Monday, Tuesday & Thursday all day and ½ day on Wednesdays.
Whole Families, Whole Food Events – A subprogram of the Dream Pantry. Providing fresh foods and other resources to the rural communities of Brazoria County. Collaborating with community partners to provide services that certain communities need. For 2019, Holiday Lakes community will have a once a month distribution. We will add additional communities as funding and staffing allow.
Backpack Buddies Program
Providing backpacks with nutritional food and snacks to children who are referred by school personnel. All food and snacks are purchased or donated by food drives conducted by our community partners.
An average of 600 individual children have been served through this program during a school year in 6 school districts and 30 schools.
Classroom Buddies – a subprogram of the Backpack Buddies. A school supplies program for teachers who are in the Backpack Buddies service area can request school supplies for their classroom or for a student. Request are filled and sent back to the school through our Backpack Buddies liaisons. Teachers can pick their items up at the Counselor’s office on Thursday.
Summer Backpack Buddies – a subprogram of the Backpack Buddies. Partnering with community partners who supply a summer meal program and the Summer Backpack Buddies fills in the gap over the weekend with a bag of nutritional foods. This summer we are serving an average of 550 children in Sweeny, Angleton, Freeport, Lake Jackson, & Clute.
Fit 4 Families Market – A subprogram of Backpack Buddies. Providing fresh foods and other resources to the families. If a child is going hungry most likely the whole family is going hungry. We partner with the Elementary schools in our rural communities. We serve Damon ISD once a month with a 10 pallet food truck, Salvation Army provides hot meals, Community Health Network provides their medical mobile unit and other partners join us as needed. Sweeny and Wild Peach Elementary are served every quarter during the school year.
Back 2 School Bash – providing school age children who live in Brazoria County with the items needed to start school. Children receive backpacks with school supplies, new tennis shoes, personal care kits and first week of lunches to an average of 800 students per year. In 2018, we assisted Gladys Polk Elementary with all their school supplies with the help of Angleton and After 5 Rotaries. In this school, 85% of the families were affected by Hurricane Harvey.
Dream Gifts – Providing Christmas gifts and wrapping paper to Brazoria County families who have had a life crisis that prevents the parents from providing gifts for their children, age infant through 15 years old. An average of 800 children (including 300 bikes).
Disaster & Crisis Recovery – assistance to those who face a natural disaster or a life crisis such as eviction, relocation, etc. Provide cleaning supplies, food, and other essential household items & clothing.
Other services:
- Referrals
- SNAP registration
- Financial Literacy Workshops
- Nutrition Education Workshops
Other Social Services within the Dream Center:
The Community Health Network (Brazoria County Dream Center Integrated Health Center)
Call: 281-824-1480 | Live Chat: sfachn.org
- Same day appointments
- Walk-ins welcome
- Serve all ages
- Accept CHIP, Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurances
- Low-cost services available for patients with NO Insurance
Medical Clinic Hours are:
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 8am to 5:00pm
River of Hope
Provides Rent & Utility assistance to those who live in the Brazosport (BISD) Area
Call: 979-299-9464 |nanette@ riverofhopetx.org
Hours are:
Monday and Wednesday, 9:00am to 12:00pm, closed the last Wednesday of each month
Information Only
- First Come, First Serve
- Documented crisis in the last 4 months
- Completed applications and documents are required prior to assistance
- Applications are available at the Brazoria County Dream Center lobby and online at www.riverofhopetx.org
Contact Information:
Mailing: PO Box 715 | Clute, TX 77531
Location: 792 Brazosport Blvd., South | Clute, TX 77531
Office: 979.388.0280 │Website: www.bcdreamcenter.org
Contact: Terri Willis, Cell: 512.484.0144 or terri@bcdreamcenter.org
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MILITARY MOMS & WIVES OF BRAZORIA COUNTY
Mission Statement: We are here to support the moral and spiritual health of our American Heroes in the armed forces in combat zones around the world through the letters and care that are hand packed with love and are shipped by caring volunteers who support all branches of service.
Military Moms and Wives of Brazoria County are going to be working hard again this year, 2019, to help raise funds to pay for postage for our summer care - packages. Postage has gone up again this year to $18.45 a box. These packages will be going out to our American heroes from not just Brazoria county but other parts of the United States. We send to our American heroes that are deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries.
We as Americans have to remember that our American heroes are out fighting for our freedom. Our mission is to reach as many American heroes that we can, for them to know that they are not forgotten.
We are asking for your help for us to be able to continue this mission, as postage is the biggest expense that we have. For 2018, our postage alone was $35,000.00 for our December 2018 mail out. We will be mailing out 2500 care-packages to our American heroes this June 2019.
Please know that that anything you can do to help us, is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your support of our American heroes.
Please check us out on our website: militarymomsandwives.org and on Facebook
Email: militarymomsandwives@yahoo.com
Mary Moreno,
Military Moms and Wives of Brazoria County
Phone: Mary Moreno (979) 236-6861
Location: 313 Mulberry, Angleton, TX │Mailing: P.O. Box 2345, Angleton, TX 77516
Board of Directors 2019:
Mary Moreno – Founder
Karen McFatter – Treasurer
Carolyn Brooks – Secretary
Pat Williams – Assistant Secretary/Advisor
Advisors:
Belinda and Darrell Daily and Carol Staten
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POWERPACKS . . . Fueling Young Minds and Bodies for Learning
Brazosport Cares Food Pantry’s weekend backpack program, POWERPACKS, provides nutritionally dense, easy to prepare food to homeless and chronically hungry BISD students who would otherwise go home to meager or no meals.
Hunger is a reality many students face on a daily basis. More than 80% of students in Freeport schools are classified as economically disadvantaged and there continues to be a significant presence of homeless students in the district. These students do not have consistent access to enough nutritious food. Many of these children rely on school breakfast and lunch during the school year. However, they go home to little or no meals on weekends and holiday breaks. POWERPACKS are designed to help alleviate childhood hunger and remove it as a barrier in the classroom. In addition, the program works to empower students to succeed in school, as well as provide them with a tangible expression that as a community we care about them.
The POWERPACKS program serves six schools within BISD. Brazosport Cares works with individuals, organizations and the Houston Food Bank to obtain food and supplies necessary to fill the backpacks. Weekly volunteers use these items to fill backpacks for qualifying students. The backpacks are delivered by volunteers to the participating schools at the end of each week. Students take the backpacks home for the weekend and return the empty bag to school on Monday so the process can start over. This school year, we will pack approximately 2,500 backpacks for more than 200 students.
As a leader in the fight against hunger in the community, Brazosport Cares Food Pantry knows if a student is facing hunger, chances are the entire family is. By connecting the student’s family to our pantry program, we are able meet the needs of the entire family.
There are many ways to help! Brazosport Cares relies on the generosity of the community to meet the needs of chronically hungry students. A shopping list of much needed items is available on our website at www.brazosportcares.org. Food donations may be dropped off at Brazosport Cares Tuesday and Thursday mornings 8:30 – 11:30. The Pantry is located at 916 N. Gulf Boulevard, Freeport, TX 77541. Additionally, look for the Red Barrel at the Freeport City Hall, Lake Jackson Library and HEB Lake Jackson to drop off donations. Volunteers are also needed to fill backpacks on Tuesdays, and to deliver and pickup backpacks to and from schools.
For more information about the POWERPACKS program or Brazosport Cares Food Pantry, contact us by email at bpcares@sbcglobal.net, by phone 979-239-1225, or visit our website at www.brazosportcares.org.