Buckner is preparing four containers of humanitarian aid to send to Haiti, where a 7.1-magnitude earthquake killed thousands Tuesday evening, and we need your help to make it happen. Buckner, through its international adoption affiliate Dillon International, provides adoption services and humanitarian aid in Haiti.

Randy Daniels, vice president of Global Operations for Buckner, said Buckner is desperately seeking financial and in-kind donations to help the effort.

“We’re rallying our resources to send a variety of emergency aid items to victims,” Daniels said. “Right now, we’re putting together four shipping containers to send new shoes and emergency food items we already have collected in our humanitarian aid center. In Mesquite, Texas, we are gathering donations of new items from the public, including new socks, tents, blankets, toiletries and other personal care items, and new, unopened first aid kits.”

Daniels added that Buckner also needs $5,000 per container to provide the shipping costs of the four containers. The containers will be shipped through Buckner’s contacts in the Dominican Republic before being trucked in to Haiti.

Daniels said donors may give through both in-kind and financial donations.  Buckner is taking deliveries of in-kind items from 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. weekdays. In-kind donors are encouraged to contact the Buckner Center of Humanitarian Aid to schedule drop-offs by calling 214-367-8080. The Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid is located at 5405 Shoe Drive, Mesquite, Texas 75149.

To give financially, donors may call the Buckner Foundation at 214-758-8050 or give online by clicking here.

The containers are being provided by GAiN (Global Aid Network), another U.S.-based aid organization that has previously collaborated with Buckner to provide shipping containers for Buckner International’s shoe distribution drive, Shoes for Orphan Souls.

Buckner announced Wednesday it also was accepting financial donations for Haiti relief through Dillon, to be used for Hope Hospital and Hope Village, a private hospital and orphanage in Haiti that collaborates with Dillon for adoption of orphan children.

Buckner Children and Family Services provides services to the abused and neglected children in SE Texas. Buckner is a global ministry that helps vulnerable children and families around the world. We respond to people in need, in crisis situations, and we’re doing our part to help our neighbors in Haiti.

Please  visit our website regularly for the latest information on our Haiti Relief efforts….and thank you for partnering with us to make a difference in the lives of hurting children and families in Southeast Texas and around the world.

“Gifting for the Future”

The New Year will be a brighter one for twelve non-profit agencies and institutions that received Mamie McFaddin Ward Heritage Foundation grant monies. The grant awards were given at a reception Thursday, December 17, 2009, from 4:00-5:00 p.m. at the McFaddin-Ward House museum that was once the home of the philanthropist Mamie Ward.

The reception honored the recipients and provided the opportunity to network with each other and meet Mrs. Ward’s relatives and museum staff. Each organization discussed how the money will be used to advance the organization’s goals.

The reception was followed by the museum’s traditional “Eggnog Thursdays,” a special holiday house tour when visitors to the museum are treated to eggnog and Christmas cookies at the visitor center with a self-guided tour of the house’s first floor. Different musical groups performed in the house’s entry hall. New items from the museum’s collection, some of which the public has never seen, were displayed throughout the house. Fresh flowers, garland and red ribbon festoon the house.

The 2009 Grant Recipients are: Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Buckner Children and Family Services, Inc., Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council, JASON Alliance of Southeast Texas, Julie Rogers’ Gift of Life, IEA-Inspire Encourage Achieve, KVLU, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Nutrition and Services for Seniors, St. Katharine Drexel Humanitarians, Spindletop Mental Health & Medical Retardation Services, and Texas Energy Museum.

BACKGROUND

The Mamie McFaddin Ward Heritage Foundation was created by Mrs. Ward in 1978 to establish and maintain the McFaddin-Ward House as a museum for cultural and educational purposes. The Foundation also supports other charitable, cultural, historic, and educational organizations and programs which serve the general public in Beaumont, Texas, and the Southeast Texas region. These grants have supported the arts, provided assistance to the needy and disadvantaged, furthered education, assisted in historical and cultural areas, provided health, medical, and counseling services, and benefitted other community needs.

Mamie McFaddin Ward was born in Beaumont, Texas, the daughter of William Perry Herring McFaddin and Ida Regina Caldwell McFaddin, a pioneer family who amassed assets in land, cattle, and oil. Her parents were active in statewide civic and social affairs, and Mrs. Ward became a civic leader and philanthropist in her own right.

Mamie McFaddin Ward Heritage Foundation board members include three McFaddin relatives: Rosine McFaddin Wilson, Ida McFaddin Pyle, and Eugene McFaddin. Capital One Bank/Beaumont is a co-trustee.

Donda Foran Thomasson
Communications Coordinator
McFaddin-Ward House Museum

This Christmas, gingerbread is not just for eating; it’s for helping children.

Thirty-one edible gingerbread houses will be sold through a silent auction to benefit orphans and vulnerable children served by Buckner Children and Family Services. The entries will be on display and available for bidding from Dec. 2 – Dec. 6 in the McFaddin-Ward House Visitor Center, 1906 Calder at Third Street in Beaumont, Texas.

Entries came from: Taylor Career and Technology Center, Silsbee High School Interior Design Class, Odom Academy Middle School, Lamar University Family & Consumer Sciences, Calder Woods Retirement Center, Lamar University graduates, and the Sanders family.

The contestants competed in the four categories of property/professional, school, open/general public, and college.

Cynthia Espinoza won first place for the division of property/professional with her entry: “A Weenie Dog Christmas” and received $250 in the name of Calder Woods to be donated to Buckner Children and Family Services and $150 for herself. Taylor Career and Technology Instructors won second for “Christmas Cottage Home.”

In the school division, Culinary Arts I & II Classes from Taylor Career and Technology Center won first place with their entry, “Winter at Home,” receiving $100 in prize money. Hillaire Soignet and Kara Szemborski from Silsbee High School’s Interior Design Class took second place earning $75 with their creation, “Canary Manor.” Honorable Mention was awarded to Stephen Young, James Meridith, and Carlee East of Odom Academy Middle School with “Santa Claus Lane”.

Additional ribbons were awarded in the school division because of the large number of entries. Below is a listing of all award winners.

3^rd Place: Dezera Morton & Susan Welborn of Silsbee High School “Hope House”

4^th Place: Christina Robertson, Shantasha Jones, Lakedria Bradley, Brittney Hickman, Britania Randolph of Silsbee High School “Evergreen House”

5^th Place: Kayleigh Washington & Adrianne Whitehead of Odom Academy “Christmas Cabin”

“Special Award” Silsbee High School: Kayla Burrows, Reagen Robinson, Alley Rose of Silsbee “Rainbow Castle”

“Special Award” Taylor Career and Technology Center: Cherlynn McDonald and Japera Coleman  “Winter Wonderland”

“Special Award” Odom Academy Middle School: (TIE)

Ann Nguyen, Elizabeth Tirawain, Manniah Harris “Gingerland”

Caleb D. Wright, Isaiah Wilkerson, James Reed “Big Colorful”

The general public was also invited to participate. First Place winner in the Open Division was Serafina DiVello receiving $150 for Are You in Good Hands?”

2nd Place: The Sanders Family “Sweet Real Estate” 

In the College Division, Rachel McGee of Nederland, Texas took first place and Best of Show for her Alice-in-Wonderland inspired “A Very Merry Un-Christmas to You.” Second-Place winner Sendi Gardner of West Orange, Texas with her “The End of the Lane” creation received approval marks as well. McGee earned $100 and Gardner took $75 as the top two finishers in the College Division.

The Honorable Mention winners from Lamar in the College Division were Louann Walker with “The Hunt is On,” Jessica Boulos with “The Wedding,” Kimberley Wade with “Christmas in the Sands, ” and Christina Pileggi with “Candy Land.”

The judges were Elaine Wikstrom, assistant editor at The Beaumont Enterprise; Michael McEachern, Renaissance Hospital CEO, and Ann Clary Old, who serves as Buckner Auxiliary President, along with her son, James Old. They rated the Gingerbread creations on degree of difficulty, work involved, artistic achievement, originality, and total appearance.

The rules for the no-entry-fee competition stated the houses had to be original designs and must be made of 100 percent edible food items, except for candy wrappers and the baseboard for the display. Wrappers may be left on the candy. 

The event was the result of a partnership among Charles Duit, of Calder Woods and Lamar University; Donda Foran Thomasson, communications coordinator at the McFaddin-Ward House, along with The Golden Triangle Chapter of the Texas Chefs Association, Lamar University Hospitality Program, Buckner Auxiliary, and Renaissance Hospital, sponsors of the event. Prize monies were sponsored by the Golden Triangle Chapter of the Texas Chefs Association, of which Chef Duit is the State President. The McFaddin-Ward House served as location host for the fourth year.

Laura May, administrator of Buckner in Beaumont, said she is very grateful for all of the participants and everyone who took part in putting together the competition.

“The gingerbread houses are beautiful, and are such a great reminder to everyone about what holidays are about—love, service and giving,” she said. “And we know that each of these displays required a lot of time and energy, so we are very blessed to have so many participants.”