Make the holidays extra merry and bright for family and friends with a gift they will fa-la-la-la-love, a self-care box from Bochy’s Box. Nourishing the mind, body and soul, a gift from Bochy’s not only inspires self-love, but it’s a gift that makes a difference with 100% of the profits going towards restoring girls rescued from sex trafficking who are staying at Bochy’s Place. The North Texas safe home offers survivors vital counseling and trauma care, medical and dental, basic home necessities, education, job training, and so much more.

In today’s hustle and bustle culture, it is important to prioritize one’s health, happiness, and overall well-being. With a Bochy’s Box, gift recipients will receive a specially-curated box filled with both survivor-made products, including the signature Bochy’s Box candle and affirmation cards, as well as products from companies who support Bochy’s mission. Gift box options include holiday-themed boxes, self-care, and mini self-care boxes. Shipping is available in the Continental United States. Holiday orders should be placed no later than Friday, December 9 to meet shipping deadlines.

This year’s Christmas Box, priced at $84.99, is a merry mix of fun and coziness. This uniquely packaged box includes a “Hope for the Holidays” scented candle that is hand poured by the survivors at Bochy’s Place, a peppermint scented bath salt also made by the survivors, an adorable “All You Need Is Love” scarf, moisturizing butter LONDON lipstick, a Rosy Rings botanical sachet, a DesignWorks Ink project notebook, a Harvest Goods Co. embroidery kit, and other surprises. The Christmas Box is a wonderful, self-care gift box idea for you or your loved one to support personal growth and self-love from the comfort of your home.

Launching in October 2022 is the Comfort Box, a box where sex trafficking survivors have made a majority of the products. Priced at $89.99, it is for anyone going through a hard time such as grief from a loss, healing, or a hard time, and it helps them find healing and restoration while also providing healing and restoration for the survivors at Bochy's Place. The Comfort Box includes a calming lavender sleep spray, peppermint and lemon infused awake spray, a roll-on with a unique blend of essential oils that bring love and joy to the heart, an Earl Grey hot tea blend, soothing oat milk and honey scented candles, intention beads to guide one through the healing process, a mediation journal, and much more.

“Our mission at Bochy’s Box is to create a steady stream of income to fund our safe home, Bochy’s Place,” states Carla Shellis, founder of Bochy’s Place and Bochy’s Box. “Shopping for a cause brings you a double dose of joy. Your loved one will get a unique present they will love, and you’ll appreciate knowing that you are becoming a part of the solution!”

Bochy’s Box is a subsidiary of the 501 ( c ) (3)  nonprofit Bochy’s Place, a restoration home for girls rescued from trafficking and exploitation. The mission is to provide a Christ-centered, nurturing family environment to enhance women emotionally, physically, and spiritually according to God's design. Currently, there is a goal to raise $6.9 million to complete a three-year plan and development of the Freedom Center, a safe and secure place for victims of sex trafficking to receive healing, trauma care, job training, education, safe living, and successful reintegration.

To order a Bochy’s Box, visit bochysbox.com. For the latest on new product announcements, follow Bochy’s Box on Facebook and Instagram.

TRAFFICKING FACTS:

• There is only 1 safe house bed for every 3,773 victims of trafficking in the United States
• There are over 300,000 victims of trafficking in Texas alone and only 60 safe house beds
• It takes Bochy’s Place approximately $34,000 to support one resident for a year excluding housing. Support includes medical, counseling, food, utilities, housing supplies, and more for the survivors
• The average age for a girl to be trafficked is between 12-15
• There are approximately 2 million trafficking victims worldwide
• There are approximately 24.9 million trafficking victims worldwide

Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and his wife Sasha, along with Avondale Premier Collection, hosted CARS & CAUSE WITH THE LAWS on Thursday, November 10, 2022. The inaugural fundraiser was held at the luxury automotive dealership Avondale Premier Collection, located at 5300 Lemmon Avenue in Dallas. Proceeds from the evening benefited local nonprofits CitySquare, CEOC, Boys & Girls Clubs of Collin County, and Big Thought. The evening’s emcee, Mark ‘Elf’ Elfenbein, helped exceed the fundraising goal of $100,000 to support the four worthy organizations.

Guests explored Avondale's four artful showrooms, highlighting the very latest from Rolls-Royce, Bentley, McLaren, and Aston Martin. Inspired bites were served from Bistro 31 and the new concept, Maison Chinois from Lombardi Family Concepts, The French Room at The Adolphus Hotel , and Eataly.  Each were paired with a craft cocktail experience from William Grant & Sons’ Reyka Vodka, Glenfiddich, among others.  The evening also presented silent auctions, which included diamond jewelry from Bachendorf’s, packages from the iconic restaurant partners, Jordan 4s from Private Selection, and PXG Golf Clubs to name a few. Attendees were also awed at the amazingly skilled art of Stephen Selzler and enjoyed cigars courtesy of cigar sommelier, Francisco Arias. All of these experiences were set to the soulful sounds from the evening’s live entertainment, Limelight Band.

 “The event was all that we had hoped it would be.  We were able to welcome our clients and VIP guests to our Avondale Premier Collection home, provide an elevated experience on behalf of DeMarcus and Sasha Lawrence, and show our passion for our support of the community.” said Hesham Elgaghil, President of Avondale Group. “The evening was an outward expression of one of our core values which is to be a service to our community and amplify the missions of those doing such great work for the underserved in in North Texas.”

 About Avondale Dealerships

Avondale Dealerships is part of Avondale Group, an innovative business led by a team with decades of success and experience in the automotive industry. Avondale is supported by members who have an incredible spirit for delivering an elevated client experience. This Spirit of Avondale runs deep and is channeled in multiple ways to care for the local community.  Avondale Dealerships operate Mercedes-Benz of Grapevine, Porsche Grapevine, Sprinter Grapevine, Aston Martin Dallas, Bentley Dallas, Koenigsegg Dallas, McLaren Dallas, Maserati Dallas, Pininfarina Dallas and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Dallas. In addition, the company manages Avondale Collision & Repair, and Avondale Select, a subscription service for luxury vehicles. For more information, please visit: https://www.avondale.com. 

There is nothing more exhilarating and beautiful as a circus with its soaring acrobatics, gravity defying feats, amazing aerialists and contortionists, mesmerizing illusions, breathtaking dance, moving music, and hilarious comedy under a brilliantly lit circus tent. This fall, Fanny Kerwich, an 8^th generation French circus artist, director and producer, will be bringing an all-new cirque show to North Texas entitled Wild West Circus. Playing at Frisco Fresh Market from October 28-October 31 and Dallas International School on November 4-5 , Wild West Circus is a stunning, fearless and funny show with a touch of vintage.

Circus is the world’s original–and ultimate–reality show! There’s no rewind button, stunt doubles, or special effects at Wild West Circus. Instead, what you’ll find is the greatest gathering of circus artists from across the globe, performing fantastic feats and dangerous displays that guarantee to leave mouths agape! The tent show gives families a more intimate, interactive experience with every seat close to the action.

At the heart of every Lone Star Circus production is Fanny Kerwich’s simple mission, which is to make all who attend forget their cares and concerns for a few hours, take a journey to a mystical place and be transformed by what they find there. By giving each patron a chance to reconnect with the core of their being, with the soul of what it means to be human, Fanny helps all of us fulfill the basic human desire to not only be entertained, but also to be amazed and amused.

"Our productions are an expression of the human spirit – people overcoming incredible obstacles and fears. Our only limits are our imaginations, and I want our audiences to connect to that part of them that makes each one unique and powerful. They may even learn something about the many cultures in our world, the many creatures that live on it or something about themselves," states Fanny, the Founder and Artistic Director of Lone Star Circus. “My greatest joy is knowing that people will go home and talk about their experiences. We are creating a lifetime of memories.”

As a performer of a well-known French circus family, Fanny knows the importance of creating memories, stimulating the imagination and touching the heart, which is the reason why she founded Lone Star Circus and started producing her own award-winning shows. Often performing to sell-out audiences, in addition to her tent shows, Lone Star Circus’ world-class productions have played at resorts such as the Gaylord Hotel & Resorts, Moody Gardens Hotel, Spa & Convention Center, theaters and more.

For more information on Lone Star Circus and to purchase tickets to Wild West Circus, visit www.LoneStarCircus.com.

TICKETS: www.LoneStarCircus.com

• $18 - $40
• Free for lap child (under age 2)

WHEN/WHERE:

Frisco Fresh Market

9215 John W Elliot Dr,

Frisco, TX 75034

October 28 – 31, 2022

• Friday, October 28 - 7 pm
• Saturday, October 29 - 1 pm, 3 pm, 7 pm
• Sunday, October 30 - 1 pm, 3 pm
• Monday, October 31- 6 pm, 8 pm

Dallas International School

17811 Waterview Pkwy

Dallas, TX 75252

November 4 – 5, 2022

• Friday, November 4 - 7:30 pm
• Saturday, November 5 - 2 pm

Over the weekend of September 24 and 25, the Gateway Church Frisco Campus will open the doors to a brand-new addition that includes a 1,200-seat sanctuary, several classrooms for spiritual and personal development courses, and onsite offices for staff. This expansion also allows for space in the existing building to be converted into a facility for youth and young adults. The growth makes room for new ministry opportunities and a chance to meet the needs of the community surrounding the church—including adding a kids playground. Phase two of this expansion is in progress and will wrap up in December 2022, which includes renovations to the original building. 

The Frisco Campus has seen tremendous growth and the community has outgrown the facilities. On most weekends when the auditorium fills up, attendees congregate in the lobby and in classrooms set up for extra guests. By expanding the campus, Gateway is expanding its ability to meet the needs of the Frisco community. 

The church wants to be more than a building in the Frisco community. “Gateway Church is a place of hope and healing—a place where people from every nation and generation can feel at home and belong because we’re all about people,” says Pastor Kemtal Glasgow. The expansion will help them welcome even more people.

Gateway Church is a Bible-based, evangelistic, Spirit-empowered church founded in 2000 by Pastor Robert Morris. Today it meets as one church in many locations with more than 100,000 people attending each weekend in person and online. For more information, visit gatewaypeople.com.  

About Gateway Church
Gateway Church is a multicampus, nondenominational church in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex led by Senior Pastor Robert Morris. Since it began in 2000, the church has grown to more than 100,000 active attendees with eight local Dallas/Fort Worth campuses, one out-of-state campus, and four prison campuses.

Connect with Gateway Church 

• Website: gatewaypeople.com 
• Facebook: @gatewaypeople
• Twitter: @gatewaypeople  
• Instagram: @gatewaypeople 

The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation has donated one million dollars to Collin County-based Agape Resource & Assistance Center, Inc to develop Jericho Village™, a 38-unit income-based, urban apartment village to be located in Wylie, Texas. With groundbreaking planned during Fourth Quarter 2022, Jericho Village will provide economically attainable housing to homeless, women-led families graduating from Agape’s transitional housing program and other households that struggle to stay reliably housed due to the critical lack of affordable housing.

“Working with Agape on Jericho Village will help create a long-term solution that specifically benefits women and girls transitioning out of homelessness,” states Kaleta Doolin, Founder of the contributing foundation. “The foundation board feels that Jericho Village is a solution to the large and increasing need in the community.”

"We are honored to have the support of The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation to help end the cycle of repeat homelessness for women and children,” says Janet Collinsworth, Founder and Executive Director of Agape Resource & Assistance. ”While it’s hard to believe that homelessness exists in an affluent area like Collin County, there are women and children who fall on hard times. With the help from the foundation and others, we are investing in a future where families in need will have a safe and stable home.”

Just north of Dallas, Collin County is known for beautiful and safe suburbs, excellent public schools, and general affluence among its roughly one million residents. Even before the pandemic, homelessness rates in Collin County were steadily rising annually. In fact, the number of Plano ISD children identified as homeless has increased fivefold since 2009. Recent statistics also show that there are an estimated 6,500 households that are one crisis away from homelessness and almost 75% of these households are women-led.

With more than eight years of proven success, Agape has empowered women with education, life skills and the confidence to become self-sustaining through its innovative training and counseling support. Despite the excitement of graduating, Agape soon found that every woman who launched from their program was faced with the near-impossible task of finding safe, economically attainable housing for her household in Collin County. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, North Texas ranks in the top 10 worst metropolitan areas for affordable housing. Their 2020 study showed that Dallas/Fort Worth has only 21 affordable and available homes for every 100 low-income renters.

Jericho Village will be an inclusive, scaled-rent and innovative solution to ending the debilitating lack of economically attainable housing in Collin County. Building on the success of Agape’s transitional housing program, on-site case workers will help Villagers gain convenient access to empowerment support services including equitable access and assistance with childcare, transportation, workforce education and training, financial literacy, budgeting, and counseling. By offering mixed-income rental homes and support services, Jericho Village will provide individuals and families with the tools needed to retain or attain economic, emotional and physical stability.

In March, the City of Wylie approved zoning for this life-changing project that will help to fill a significant gap in Collin County social services. Other Jericho Village community stakeholders include First Baptist Church of Wylie and Catholic Charities of Dallas. In addition to the generous gift from the foundation and support from the other stakeholders, Agape has the goal to raise an additional $750,000 by the first of September.

Interested in learning more about how you and your organization can be a part of this innovative solution? Credit Union of Texas Charitable Foundation will be hosting a complimentary lunch on Thursday, August 18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Chase Oaks Church’s Legacy Campus in Plano. Ashley Brundage, Executive Director of Housing Stability and Sr. VP of Community Impact at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, will discuss the state of homelessness in Collin and Dallas counties. Collinsworth will introduce Agape’s Jericho Village. To RSVP, visit HERE or call Angie Dunaway at 817-875-2645.

For more information, visit www.jerichovillage.org or contact Janet Collinsworth at Janet@Hope4Agape.org. For the latest updates, follow Jericho Village on Facebook and Instagram.