A Message from the Stable

From our LINC North Texas family to yours ~

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

New Hope Christmas Store

The Christmas Store at New Hope Church and Community Center this past winter brought 57 families through our doors. Due to gracious donations from Zion Lutheran Dallas, Crown of Life Colleyville, and various individual donors, we had a wide assortment of gifts for parents to choose from. Families from the local elementary school were invited to come to New Hope and buy new toys at reduced prices.

We believe by letting the parents purchase the gifts themselves, it dignifies them knowing they provided for their children and allows them to see the surprise and joy on their children’s faces as they open a gift bought specifically for them. The Christmas Store also allowed us to work side by side with parents from the neighborhood as well as new families we’ve invited to join us for Family Night. A couple of families, who are now regulars at Family Night, met us for the first time at the Christmas Store.

Community Garage Sale

Our Community Garage Sale and Carnival on Nov. 7th was a huge success. Here is the story:

We were blessed to have the community get involved and donate so many items.

• Bethel Lutheran Church - Dallas
• Buckner Terrace Homeowners Association
• Crown of Life Lutheran Church - Colleyville
• Ferguson Road Initiative
• Hillview Terrace Neighborhood Association
• Lamb of God Lutheran Church - Flower Mound
• Prince of Peace Lutheran Church - Carrollton
• S.S. Conner Elementary School
• St. Paul Lutheran Church - Plano
• Truett Crime Watch
• White Rock Hills Crime Watch
• White Rock Village Crime Watch
• Zion Lutheran Church - Dallas
• And many others...

Folks from these churches and organizations gave items and/or their time to help out. We couldn't have done it without them!

We literally had so many donations that we filled five classrooms of clothes, kitchen supplies, furniture, house decorations, and electronics. We spent most of the day Thursday and Friday organizing and pricing all the donations. It was so nice to get last minute help from the Truett Crime Watch group sorting Friday morning. We had a couple families from the neighborhood come and help quite a bit too!

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day. We weren't too sure when we started at 5:30am in the cold and fog. It was great having people, not just from the fire, but also from the immediate neighborhood come by and get some really amazing deals.

We had clothes of all sizes, jackets, shoes, toys, tvs, beds, lamps, desks, plates and cups... you name it, we had it! We also had games for the kids to play and prizes to be won! Some youth from Prince of Peace came and spent their Saturday painting faces and jumping in the bounce house with our neighborhood kids. We sold hamburgers, hotdogs, chips and baked goods. We made quite a day of it.

Overall, it was an amazing day! We were able to make over $1800 for the families who lost their belongings in the Millennium Pointe Apartment fire. There will be a meeting soon to gather everyone to discuss the distribution of the collected funds. It has been such a testament of God's love to see neighbors and non-neighbors care for one another!

Day at the Zoo

Saturday, October 3, our local Thrivent chapters got together for a day at the Dallas Zoo. LINC North Texas was invited to participate and be recipients of food and supplies for our emergency food pantry at New Hope Community Center.

It was a beautiful day to be at the zoo and hanging out with our friends from Thrivent. It was a great chance for us to reconnect with people and also get to know some new folks too. We got to spend some time walking around the zoo, checking out the animals, riding the tram, and eating an amazing bbq lunch! We look forward to continued partnership with Thrivent in the future.

Community Happening in Far East Dallas

LINC is seeing the beauty of community in Far East Dallas.

In late July, a fire broke out in a local apartment in the community. This was the second fire to take place at this complex in the last 4 months. 24 families lost everything or nearly all. Since there have been 4 community meetings, mediated by LINC, to bring about what is needed in the apartment community, and now in the Far East Dallas community.

The last meeting was inspiring to see. Not only were the fire victims represented, but also neighborhood associations, the Ferguson Road Initiative, local churches, and individuals of the community with a heart to help their neighbors. The night concluded with a decision to hold a community wide garage sale benefiting the families of the apartment fire.

Since, things have been getting into gear for the garage sale, which will take place on November 7th. I’m so excited to be a part of this community and see it put together an event like this. The community is really coming together, but with an event like this, we will need as many people who want to be a part of something great! We will be holding our next meeting to plan the garage sale this Thursday October 15 at 6:30, at New Hope Community Center.

Here are a few pictures from our last community meeting:

First Rangers' Game

This past weekend, Al got some free tickets to a Rangers game and invited a few of us to go. She also invited M to go with us. We've known M and his family for a couple of years through New Hope and the various programs that have gone on in that area.

A couple of months ago, there was a fire at M's apartment complex. To be specific, it was the third fire at the apartment complex in the past two years. But this time, most of his family's possessions were water damaged, leaving them with very little. LINC got involved, mediating some community meetings that have us all extremely hopeful. A group of neighbors from the area are in the process of planning a community garage sale that will benefit the folks that lost everything in the fire.

Back to our day at the Rangers' game. Al had mentioned doing something with M a couple of weeks ago, so when the opportunity arose, she asked him if he'd want to go with us. Come to find out, it was his first baseball game. We started way up in the nosebleed section, but we were able to move down closer... 8 rows back from the Rangers' dugout.

It was a typical day at the ballpark, full of nachos, lemon freezes, pretzels and cokes in Rangers' cups. Although it didn't help the Rangers in the end, we cheered and had a great time. M called it his "lucky day." We even waited after the game so that he could run the bases with John. It was a beautiful day for baseball and to take our friend to his first game. I think it was a lucky day for all of us.