All locations of the The Caring Place are CLOSED on Friday, March 29th and Saturday, March 30th.

The Shops at The Caring Place is closed on Monday, April 1.

Dear Friends,

Spring is here! As we begin this season of renewal, I want to assure you that The Caring Place continues our community’s legacy of caring for our neighbors with food, clothing, and financial assistance. In the first two months of 2024, we assisted 5,638 neighbors with multiple services, a 52% increase over the same time last year. Over half of the neighbors we assisted this year have not received services from The Caring Place before. This can indicate that the community is growing; perhaps more neighbors are experiencing a crisis, or

maybe more people are aware of our services. No matter the case, we deeply appreciate that thanks to your support, we can bring some relief when times are tough.

Many exciting things are happening at The Caring Place in April. It is

National Volunteer Month, and we want to send a grateful “shout out” to our 340 amazing volunteers for helping us fulfill our mission. Our Thrift Stores will be having some surprise sales, and a Textile Event will be held at our Railroad

Avenue location. And our community's "Spring Cleaners" will love that they have a worthwhile place to take their gently used items. Our staff and volunteers will work on all this and enjoy a holiday break this Easter season. This break will provide them with a bit of time for self-care.

We hope this season brings you rejuvenation. Today, I invite you to read the rest of the newsletter, where you can learn about the work that keeps us caring in the community throughout the year.

Ginna O'Connor

Executive Director

Textile Sale!*

The Caring Place is hosting its second Textile Sale on Thursday, April 11th through Saturday, April 13th, inside The Shops at The Caring Place located at 2000 Railroad Avenue in Georgetown, Texas. Find quilts, antique crochet, lace, fabric, upholstery, quilting fabric, notions, and more at this one-of-a-kind textile event. This thrift shop is open Monday - Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Retail Operations Director Ann Lind shares, “Creative hearts will sing at this event. Hobby crafters to professional seamstresses will find something wonderful to start or finish a project. Last year, we introduced many new shoppers to The Caring Place through our Textile Sale, and we can’t wait to do it again! The best part is that your purchases support our mission to provide for the basic human needs of all people in our community in a welcoming, respectful and caring way.”

For more information about this event, visit our website calendar at caringplacetx.org/calendar or Facebook at facebook.com/thecaringplace.

*This textile event also marks the grand re-opening of our Re-Finds space! What's the new theme of this area on our sales floor? Your guess is as good as ours... HO HO HO! ;-) You might want to check this out!

Do you shop at Randalls? Print and fill out this document to have your purchases at Randalls support our mission. Submit the form to the Randalls Courtesy Booth.

DOWNLOAD FLYER

Let's increase the number of folks who participate in this program so that you help The Caring Place when you buy your groceries.

Fill out a Volunteer application NOW!

After completing the application, Dennis Hilgeman, our Volunteer Coordinator will call to confirm your Volunteer Orientation attendance. If one of these scheduled dates doesn't work, don't worry! Dennis can work with you! Feel free to give him a call at 512-943-0708 with all of your volunteering questions or email him at dhilgeman@caringplacetx.org. We look forward to meeting you!

Donate Food

The Caring Place accepts food donations to supplement our busy Food Pantry. You can bring food donations to our drive through at 2000 Railroad Avenue, Mon-Sat, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Financial gifts allow the organization to purchase food items when it needs them and can be made at caringplacetx.org/donate. Due to space restrictions, this is a great way to help our neighbors. The Caring Place also has access to discounted food sources and is a partner of the Central Texas Food Bank, making financial gifts the most impactful way to lend a hand.

If you’d like to help the Food Pantry by having a Food Drive, contact Food Programs of The Caring Place at 512–943-0738 or email fooddonations@caringplacetx.org. Advance notice is requested so that we can make space in the warehouse. Food Drive items can be tracked for groups by bringing them to the reserved parking space during regular Food Pantry Hours. Mon, Tues, Wed, and Friday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Donate Your Stuff

Our Donation drive-through is open the same hours as our store at 2000 Railroad Avenue! Bring your new and gently used items Mon-Sat, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Item donations provide affordable necessities for our community and support our mission to provide for the basic human needs of all people in our community. Through your fabulous donations, we also raise money to help neighbors with rent, utilities, transportation and more when they have financial hardships.

Interested in donating large furniture? We have a designated pick up service area to help you with those requests. Learn more about this designated area and the items we do not take at caringplacetx.org/donatemystuff or call 512-943-0711 to request a pick up.

Donate a Monetary Gift

The gift you give today directly impacts families struggling in our community.

Whether it's food, rent, clothing or another type of assistance, The Caring Place can only do this work with the help of generous supporters like you. We can use your gifts where we need them most to help our neighbors, or you can designate your gift to the Food Pantry.

Give today at caringplacetx.org/donate.

Join The Caring Place, St. David's Foundation and The GIFT Project for this important series, Navigating Advance Care Decisions. Classes will touch on getting organized for those you leave behind, advance care planning and directives, and end-of-life care.

Classes are on April 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in The Caring Place's Community Room. Registration is required by April 1st. Space is limited.

To register for this limited-time class call 512-943-0726 or 512-943-0724 or email Xinia at xvargas@caringplacetx.org. A light lunch will be provided on the first class day.

An Amplify Thank You!

In case you missed it, The Caring Place's Amplify campaign was a success! With YOUR help, we raised over $150,000 to help our neighbors in crisis. The level of support our community gives during this annual matching campaign is amazing!

Thank you again for your efforts to give at this special time!