JustServe, Alliance Stake Awarded Local Non-Profit’s 2020 Outstanding Philanthropic Group of the Year Award

Featured Photo: Alliance Stake JustServe Specialist Kristy Taylor, left, and Christ’s Haven for Children Volunteer Manager Summer Woods.

Our JustServe efforts in the Texas Alliance Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints usually focus on about a dozen local non-profit organizations located within the boundaries of our congregations.  Lately, with so many restrictions on in-person volunteering and so many charitable organizations changing the way they operate, the number of local non-profits available to support in the Alliance Stake has shrunk.  However, because the needs of local families have increased by about three-fold, our JustServe volunteers in Alliance Stake have been busier than ever.  Christ’s Haven for Children is one of the busiest non-profit organizations in the area this year.  JustServe volunteers have jumped in to help often and eagerly and were awarded Christ’s Haven’s 2020 Outstanding Philanthropic Group of the Year Award. 

Christ’s Haven for Children provides a trauma-informed, family-based model of care for children, teens, and families on their campus in Keller, Texas.  Children live in cottages with houseparents, dedicated couples, some who bring their own children, who care for mixed families of youngsters in a loving, Christian environment.  The group’s Development Manager, Mary Ellen Lewis, says, “I am so thankful to watch the amazing work our houseparents do every day, impacting each child and teen in our care.  It is the biggest honor to be a part of this community.”

The residents on Christ’s Haven’s campus have playgrounds, a chapel, a school bus stop, and a food pantry of their own to provide groceries for each cottage.  The non-profit provides after-school activities, holiday parties, education support, and lots of love and kindness to children and families who need it most.  Christ’s Haven receives no government funding, all their donations are privately funded, with about a third coming from individual donors; some of their funds come from their resale shop on Main Street in Keller.  Their food pantry also relies on donations of food and supplies from local groups and individuals. 

As the Alliance Stake JustServe Specialist, I have enjoyed mobilizing a large number of donations and volunteers from the Alliance area, from both members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and non-members alike, and missionaries from the Fort Worth Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Alliance Stake’s most willing and available volunteers) to benefit Christ’s Haven for Children in a variety of projects:

• Volunteering at Christ’s Haven Resale Shop
• Providing face masks as part of the Alliance Stake’s ‘3000 in 30’ mask-making project (making 3000 masks in 30 days)
• Donating food over several weeks for the food pantry on site
• Delivering dinners for a week to a cottage under quarantine
• Landscaping on campus–Missionaries who were temporarily home with their families in the Alliance area while waiting to be re-assigned domestically volunteered to help with landscaping on the campus
• Delivering a food donation from the Bishop’s Storehouse in Salt Lake City.  In September of 2020, JustServe in the Alliance Stake received over 600 pounds of food donated from the Bishop’s Storehouse in Salt Lake City.  A portion of that food donation was delivered to Christ’s Haven’s food pantry
• Participating in Fall Work Day.  About fifteen missionaries plus several families helped with landscaping around the cottages, working alongside other volunteers and houseparents.
• Sorting and prepping donations for a garage sale to fund Christmas and other activities through the end of the year.

I have loved our partnership with Christ’s Haven. Working with Summer Woods, Christ’s Haven’s Volunteer Coordinator, and all the great people on campus has been a great experience for me and our volunteers. I am so glad to be able to support such a wonderful group of hard-working, dedicated people in such a great endeavor. It has been a blessing to be able to help them.  

Alliance Stake President, Mike Pray, said, “We value our partnership with Christ’s Haven and other local charities and the opportunity they give us to give back to the community.  We are looking forward to offering and coordinating the volunteer support they need to reach their goals to serve those in need going forward.”