A letter from Shonda Schaefer, GRACE Executive Director
Ten families from the Ridge Crest Apartments on Mustang Drive are without the basic necessities of life today. Fire tore through their apartments last night leaving nothing for these families. The children of these families have just three days left of school--and need as much normalcy as we can provide to make sure they end their academic year on a positive note.
GRACE staff and volunteers have been deployed and have set up a temporary assistance office on site. We are meeting with each family to assess their basic, immediate and long-term needs. All families will receive temporary shelter, food and clothing as soon as possible--hopefully by day's end.
I am coming to you seeking help for them. All their clothes, furniture, food, medication, and much more were either burned or ruined by smoke and water damage. GRACE is taking the lead in providing for these families during this time in conjunction with CONNECT--a collaboration of GCISD, churches in the community, and the cities of Grapevine and Colleyville.
We need your help. These families will need immediate support and relief until further help can be found and secured.
Can we count on you? Please send $25, $50 or more so GRACE can provide a sense of normalcy to these families, especially the children who have only a few days left of school. In addition to cash contributions, GRACE will be collecting Wal-Mart gift cards for families to replace personal items that may not be readily available in the GRACE Pantry. To donate, visit GRACE.
We are gathering clothing and food from our Clothing Room and Pantry, but money is needed for medications, special dietary needs, school materials and transportation.
Temporary shelters have been set up for the victims, but relocating to permanent housing will bring added overwhelming financial burden to these families. Your help is needed to help these families start over.
Some things cannot be replaced and GRACE caseworkers are on site talking with those left homeless by this disaster. Please help us help these unfortunate families, and please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they struggle through these hard times.
In His service,
Shonda