Itbrtruly takes a village of dedicated volunteers to move the GRACE ChristmasbrCottage into its local holiday headquarters. The Christmas Cottage is locatedbrat 2845 Exchange Blvd, Suite 300 in Southlake. brIBM employees, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-daybrSaints and many recurring Elves were ready, willing and able to fill that needbrthis month.
Manybrbicycles, books, clothes and toys galore were moved en masse, along with boxesbrfilled with Christmas trees, wreaths, lights, ornaments and other holidaybrdelights. “We're thrilled with our volunteer and donor support for thebrChristmas Cottage,” said GRACE Executive Director Shonda Schaefer. “However, we are concerned because we arebrreaching about 400 more kids than last year. We're looking to the community tobrstep in and help with more donations.”
GRACEbrexpects this year's Christmas Cottage to touch the lives of more than 600brfamilies with more than 1,600 children who live in the Grapevine, Colleyvillebrand Southlake area. “We are asking even more this year from our community tobrhelp fill this need,” Schaefer said. GRACE is requesting supporters to donatebrnew and unwrapped toys and gifts for children and teens, small appliances and giftbrcards for parents, wrapping paper, tape, bows and batteries. If you arebrinterested in donating, then please bring your contributions to the ChristmasbrCottage in Southlake after Thanksgiving between 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, beginning Monday,brNovember 26.
ThebrChristmas Cottage is little more than a huge warehouse now, but dozens ofbrvolunteers are already helping organize, decorate, stock and transform it frombra warehouse into a magical shop for GRACE clients to choose the toys and giftsbrthat will thrill their children Christmas morning. When the Cottage officially opens December 7,brmore volunteers will price items, restock shelves, assist GRACE clients as theybrmake their selections—Spanish-speaking volunteers are so important to make surebrall families' needs are met—and add wrapping paper and bows so mom and dad canbrput the finishing touches on their children's presents.
ThebrChristmas Cottage is open for GRACE clients through December 20. What Christmasbrexperience would be complete without cookies? The Christmas Cottage needs sixbrdozen cookies a day during this time. Another cadre of cookie baking volunteersbrtakes the lead with this sweet task. Asbrwith every event, we need volunteers who are willing to help clean up, sort andbrmove items to storage after the Christmas Cottage has closed. Volunteer spotsbrare filling fast! If you are interested in volunteering, then please contactbrLori Stevens at 817-488-7009 ext. 329 or lstevens@gracegrapevine.org to get onbrthe schedule. Even though volunteer openings may be full, toys are still needed.
Please visit the GRACE Seasonal Program page for a complete list of items needed for the Christmas Cottage.