Keri Keck
Director of Missions and Community Resources
keri@graceavenue.org
Summer Lunch Program
Grace Avenue’s Summer Lunch Program provides lunches for children in the the Preston on the Lake Community of Little Elm throughout the summer months. This runs all summer long and relies on volunteers & donations from our church.
Frisco Family Services Summer Lunch Program
Grace Avenue partners with Frisco Family Services to provide lunch to students in Frisco ISD. This runs for one week at four school locations across Frisco.
Welcome With Grace
Grace Avenue’s “Welcome with Grace” ministry focuses on ensuring that those coming to our community from other countries can find a sense of belonging in their new home. We do this in several different ways.
We host free ESL & citizenship classes for those needing to improve their English or apply for citizenship. Our Welcome Team works to supply apartment furnishings and other necessities to refugee families in North Texas. We partner with Dallas Responds and Oak Lawn UMC to assist with migrants arriving in the Dallas area on an "as needed" basis. We are not currently seeking furnishings, but please check back for updates.
If you have any questions about any of our “Welcome with Grace” ministries, or have other ideas about how to assist our new neighbors, please contact Keri Keck at keri@graceavenue.org.
Community Garden
Grace Avenue’s community garden promotes community involvement and provides fresh fruits and vegetables to our local food banks. The Community Garden behind the church has been mulched and has a number of raised beds and rows to be adopted by a group or an individual. Contact Holly Hanson at hollyhansond@gmail.com with questions.
Prayer Shawl Ministry
2nd Tuesdays | 1-2:30 pm | Tom Graves Hall
We are a group of adults who crochet, knit, and sometimes sew or quilt for people going through a difficult time. We make prayer shawls, lap blankets, hats, scarves, baby and preemie items, sleeping mats, and soap sacks. We support local hospitals, outreach programs for the unhoused, and other organizations as well as our own church members and visitors. We can teach you to crochet or knit if you’d like to learn. Join us and make some new friends while helping our community! Contact Robin Caraway at rcarawaycpa@sbcglobal.net or Tina Perello at tinagp97@yahoo.com for more information.
Local Partners
Frisco Helpers
Frisco Helpers is a mission of senior adult volunteers, sponsored by local Churches to help senior and special needs citizens within the community with minor home maintenance, with a key focus on safety. Friscohelpers.org
Blood Drives
Grace Avenue partners with Carter BloodCare throughout the year for to host onsite mobile blood drives. Sign up to donate on a 5th Sunday! Watch for scheduled dates.I
Frisco Family Services
Frisco Family Services exists to help members of our communities who are facing hunger, homelessness and other urgent needs, improve their quality of life and achieve self-sufficiency. Grace Avenue supports many annual missions such as the Back to School Fun Fair, Thanksgiving Dinner Box program and the Holiday Adoption program. Friscofamilyservices.org
Frisco Family Services Summer Lunch
For one week each summer, Grace Avenue, along with other churches and organizations, provides sack lunches and game for the children and their families who live in the downtown Frisco area.
Bedstart
Donate beds and furnishings that are gently used or new. Groups can bless a family moving into an apartment by providing all or supplementing larger furniture. Delivery routes every Saturday. Bedstart.org
The Samaritan Inn
Grace Avenue works to support families experiencing homelessness. We help willing people regain dignity and independence. On a typical night, approximately 121 adults and 45 children stay at the Samaritan Inn. Volunteer to take a tour of their new facility, serve a meal, donate needed items, sponsor a child for the summer, help furnish an apartment. Saminn.org
Frisco Fast Pacs
Grace Avenue partners with Frisco Fastpacs which delivers weekend meals to all 72 FISD campuses, for 1400+ children, to ensure they do not go hungry when school is not in session.
Grace Avenue is an ongoing drop-off site for donations and supports Frisco Fast Pacs in other ways throughout the year.
Dallas Responds
Oak Lawn UMC’s Outreach Program, “Dallas Responds” serves as a welcoming center for migrants here in Dallas. We make sure they know they are safe, free, and welcome in this country. They provide clothing, food, a space to rest, travel arrangements assistance, medical assistance, a know-your-rights workshop, and transportation to the airport. Grace Avenue donates needed items and has volunteers each week that help with scheduling and transportation. https://olumc.org/dallasresponds
See Migrant Assistance for more ways to help.
Little Elm Food Bank
Little Elm Food Bank provides clients short-term emergency food aid for their families from the shelves of our pantry. Grace Avenue supports food drives throughout the year and staffs the Preston on the Lakes Summer Lunch Program. leafb.org
Refresh Frisco
Grace Avenue partners with Refresh Frisco by collecting hygiene products for students in Frisco ISD and Little Elm ISD. Over 1500 students at 84 schools receive the kit each quarter to ensure they stay healthy and increase their self-esteem. Grace Avenue collects donations and supports in other ways several times a year. Refreshfrisco.org
Habitat for Humanity
In 2011, Grace Avenue formed a life-changing partnership for the intent of improving the living conditions of a neighbor in need of decent housing. For more information visit HFH of Collin County
Disaster Relief
EARLY RESPONSE TEAM
Grace Avenue’s Early Response Team (ERT) is a group of specially trained individuals who assist people who have been devastated by natural disasters. The work varies, from debris cleanup and removal to putting tarps on roofs.
LONG TERM RECOVERY TEAMS
After the initial clean-up of a disaster, help is needed to rebuild. Grace Avenue sends adult mission teams on short term trips to areas that are ready to rebuild. Construction skills are not necessary, but always welcome.
International Partnerships
God's Child Project
We also sponsor the God’s Child Project in Guazapa, El Salvador, which serves the children in this poverty stricken area and helps them find God’s hope in their midst. For more information, contact Laurie Hanson Roberts at lhr@graceavenue.org