March Wrap-Up

March Wrap-Up

Anniversaries

Join us in congratulating our staff member who celebrated their work anniversary in March!

Jennifer Figueroa, Marketing Coordinator

4th Anniversary

Urgent needs

  • Dish Soap

  • Facial Tissues

  • Toilet Paper

  • Paper Towels (Rolls and Tri-Folds)

Donations can be dropped off at our Service Center at 615 W 1st Street, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation outside of our business hours, please call our Direct Care Shelter Staff at (308) 383-4634 to schedule a drop off.

You can also support Hope Harbor with monetary donations. Thank you!

WHAT’S NEXT

GO BIG GIVE

Our next upcoming fundraiser is Go Big Give! This year, Go Big Give falls on May 2nd. Go Big Give brings Hall, Hamilton, Howard, and Merrick counties together as one community, raising money and awareness for local nonprofits, like Hope Harbor, during the 24-hour online giving day. Follow along on our social media as we will share quotes, statistics, memes, and of course challenge videos when donations reach certain levels of our goal!

Hunting for Hope

🔍Save the Date!🔍

Get ready to embark on an exhilarating adventure for a cause! Our Hunting For Hope scavenger hunt will be on Saturday, July 20, 2024.

It's not just a game, it's a chance to make a difference! Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details!

February Wrap-Up

February Wrap-Up

Urgent needs

  • Misc. Needs:

    • Paper towels

    • Facial tissues

    • Toilet Paper

Donations can be dropped off at our Service Center at 615 W 1st Street, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation outside of our business hours, please call our Direct Care Shelter Staff at (308) 383-4634 to schedule a drop off.

You can also support Hope Harbor with monetary donations to purchase the. Thank you!

WELCOME

Our team has grown and changed in the past year! Join us in welcoming Melanie Liebsack, Program Manager; Reyna Ramirez, Case Manager; Tracelyn Irwin, Service Cooridnator; Sarah Romero, Administrative Assistant; Kalaba Kapandu, Direct Care Staff; Becky Morlag, Direct Care Staff; Jessica Esquivel, Direct Care Staff; Nadia Acosta, Direct Care Staff; and Angel Garcia, Direct Care Staff. Pictures and bios will be coming soon as our new staff members settle in.

WHAT’S NEXT - GO BIG GIVE

Our next upcoming fundraiser is Go Big Give! This year, Go Big Give falls on May 2nd. Go Big Give brings Hall, Hamilton, Howard, and Merrick counties together as one community, raising money and awareness for local nonprofits, like Hope Harbor, during the 24-hour online giving day. Follow along on our social media as we will share quotes, statistics, memes, and of course challenge videos when reach certain levels of our goal!

January Wrap-Up

January Wrap-Up

Anniversaries

Molly Clark

Operations Manager

3rd Anniversary

Emily Bennetzen

Direct Care Staff

1st Anniversary

Becky Jarzynka

Case Manager

1st Anniversary

Urgent needs

  • Misc. Needs:

    • Men’s winter gloves, hats, scarves, and socks

    • Paper towels

    • Facial tissues

    • Towels

    • Pillows

    • Hand soap (liquid, pump)

  • Donations can be dropped off at our Service Center at 615 W 1st Street, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation outside of our business hours, please call our Direct Care Shelter staff at (308) 383-4634 to schedule a drop off.

You can also support Hope Harbor with monetary donations. Thank you!

Recap - Resident Holiday Party

We hosted our resident holiday party at Tommy Gunz Hideout. Due to the kitchen being unavailable, we were able to bring in a feast from Texas Roadhouse. While we waited for all residents to arrive, they were able to enjoy hot chocolate, take pictures with Santa, and play games. Once everyone was present, dinner was served. After the delicious meal, we all headed over to the presents! Thanks to all our donors who sponsored individuals and families in our shelter, we were able to see the amazing smiles on their faces opening their gifts.

Hope Harbor Staff with Santa

Gifts donated by donors from our “Hope for the Holidays” program!

Recap - Serving Up Hope

The theme of our 12th annual Serving Up Hope gala was “Under Wraps.” We once again kept our chef and ingredient secret! We “unwrapped” our featured chef, Thomas Harper, from Tabitha Health. Until the day of the gala, we “unwrapped” our featured ingredient, mushroom! Chef Thomas went above and beyond and presented the appetizer of mushrooms in three ways. A creative, delicious, and unique appetizer that intrigued all our guests.

During the cocktail hour, guests were able to support Hope Harbor by playing our games. We had our classic First Chance Raffle where guests can purchase any amount of raffle tickets to win an item off the Live Auction. This year’s guest was able to pull off a trip to Italy! We also had our second regular game, Heads or Tails. Guests were able to purchase a stress relief lighthouse to later play heads or tails during the Live Auction. The last standing player then won $500 cash, sponsored by Lutz! Our third and new game was Spirits of Hope, previously known as the Wine Cellar Select. Our amazing board member, Robert Heagy from RAH Artistry, handmade a custom Hope Harbor Plinko board! Like our Wine Cellar Select game, we had different price levels of alcohol, but also had more than just wine. Guests were able to then purchase one try for $30 or two tries for $50 to try and win the bottle they wanted. We were so excited to see our guests enjoy the games while also supporting Hope Harbor and the women and families we serve.

After the cocktail hour, dinner was served in the ballroom. Speeches were given by our Board President, Brian Mustion, our Executive Director, Liz Mayfield, and our testimonial speaker, Michelle. Michelle showed bravery and vulnerability sharing her story with our guests. Our 300+ guests gave her a standing ovation and were inspired to donate to our Bid for Hope and surpassed our goal!

Later, after our Silent Auction closed, we began our Live Auction. Guests bid back and forth and supported our cause. After we wrapped up the night, we celebrated another successful Serving Up Hope fundraiser!

Thank you to all our sponsors, donors, speakers, board members, and staff. We can only serve the women, families, and community we serve because of you.

What’s Next - Go Big Give

Our next upcoming fundraiser is Go Big Give! This year, Go Big Give falls on May 2nd. Go Big Give brings Hall, Hamilton, Howard, and Merrick counties together as one community, raising money and awareness for local nonprofits, like Hope Harbor, during the 24-hour online giving day. Follow along on our social media as we will share quotes, statistics, memes, and of course challenge videos when reach certain levels of our goal!

November Wrap-Up

November Wrap-Up

Congratulations

Join us in congratulating and celebrating our Direct Care Staff Member, Vanessa Acosta-Ramirez, on her graduation from the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce EDGE program.

We’re so proud that she took this initiative to pursue her potential. Thank you for your ongoing dedication to provide the best for yourself, our residents, staff, and our organization.

Far Right: Vanessa Acosta-Ramirez, Direct Care Staff

Urgent needs

Firstly, THANK YOU! All of your generous donations of food pantry items have not only stocked up the food pantry in our Shelter for our residents, but also the food pantry for our Community Assistance program. We have been able to continue to provide meals for our residents and get back on track to providing meals to families and individuals in need in our community.

Current URGENT Needs:

  • Hygiene Needs:

    • Diapers (sizes 5-7)

    • Baby wipes

  • Misc. Needs:

    • Men’s winter gloves, hats, scarves, and socks

    • Paper towels

    • Facial tissues

    • Towels

    • Pillows

  • Donations can be dropped off at our Service Center at 615 W 1st Street, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation outside of our business hours, please call our Direct Care Shelter staff at (308) 383-4634 to schedule a drop off.

You can also support Hope Harbor with monetary donations. Thank you!

Harbies

Harbies is our monthly staff get together, where we hold a potluck and spend the hour talking, playing games, and other fun for team bonding and to reduce stress.

November’s theme was “Brunch”! We had bagels and cream cheese, fruit pizza, fruit and dip, and mimosa mocktails.

We played Yahtzee, gushed over Taylor Swift, and talked about our Spotify Wrapped albums.

Another fun hour for our staff to decompress!

What’s Next

Hope for the Holidays:

We have officially matched up all of our residents with community donors who will be sponsoring their holiday wishes!

Each year, we have residents that move in from the Emergency Shelter over to the Transitional Shelter the week of the holiday party. Since it is too late to sponsor them, staff members shop for them. We rely on monetary donations, gift cards, etc.

If you would like to donate gift cards and/or monetarily to help us with these last minute gifts, that would be greatly appreciated. Just note this when dropping off or mailing in your donation, or making a donation online, and we will make sure that is what the donation is used for.

Thank you!

Serving Up Hope:

Join us as we unwrap our 12th year of Serving Up Hope on Saturday, January 27, 2024.

Serving Up Hope is our annual gala fundraiser that helps us meet the many needs for individuals and families experiencing homelessness and those nearly experiencing homelessness.

At the gala, you’ll enjoy bidding on our Silent & Live Auction items, a gourmet dinner, and helping us accomplish our mission: Help and Hope for a life of self-sufficiency.

2024’s theme is “Under Wraps”! We unwrapped our featured chef, Thomas Harper, on December 1st. We will unwrap of featured ingredient the night of the event.

Purchase your tickets today! This event sells out every year.

October Wrap-Up

October Wrap-Up

Urgent needs

In the first six months of 2023, we have served 21,840 meals to our residents and 1,687 food boxes through our Community Assistance program. That’s about nine families visiting Hope Harbor for food boxes once a day from January to June.

Hope Harbor is an essential source of meals and our community's basic needs. Unfortunately, our food pantries have run critically low for the last few weeks.

We urgently ask you to please donate non-expired and unopened food pantry items.

Please donate canned veggies, meat, fruit, and soup; mac and cheese; pasta; pasta sauce; applesauce; crackers; cereal; beans; rice; peanut butter; jelly; salad dressing; and other non-perishable foods.

Other URGENT Needs:

  • Hygiene Needs:

    • Diapers (sizes 4-7)

    • Baby wipes

    • Men; women; and children’s deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash

    • Razors and shaving cream

    • Travel size hygiene items and travel size dental items

    • Pads (for regular and medium flows) and tampons (for all types of flows/sizes).

  • Misc. Needs:

    • Adult and children medicine for pain, stomach ache, anti-acids, cold/fever, allergy, etc.

    • Men’s winter gloves, hats, and scarves

    • Paper towels

    • Facial tissues

    • Towels

    • Sippy cups

    • Socks

Donations can be dropped off at our Service Center at 615 W 1st Street, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation outside of our business hours, please call our Direct Care Shelter staff at (308) 383-4634 to schedule a drop off.

You can also support Hope Harbor with monetary donations. Thank you!

Events Recap

Week Without Violence: October 16-21

We are so grateful to each and every person who joined us to raise awareness and stand against gendered domestic violence during Week Without Violence!

On Monday, we held a group painting fundraising event at Arts & Drafts. We enjoyed a charcuterie spread and drinks. We all painted an art piece that represented the colors of our organizations, orange for YWCA, green for Willow Rising, and yellow and blue for Hope Harbor. In the center, we painted a purple flower to represent domestic violence awareness. We also painted the word “empower” for all the victims and survivors of domestic violence. During the painting, we presented about our organizations and what we can offer to those experiencing the trauma from domestic violence. We also had a survivor speak on her experience. Once our paintings were dry, we moved on to the auction portion of the night. We auctioned off four amazing art pieces and surpassed our goal!

We are so thankful to everyone who attended, who participated in the daily tasks for the week, the talented artists, and our brave speaker for sharing her story.

Project Connect: October 26

We held our annual Project Connect event at the Pinnacle Bank Expo. This was our eleventh year providing free services to those in need in one day.

This year, we had over 50 Service Providers sign up and offer their services or information about their services to individuals and families.

We are thankful for all our Service Providers, volunteers, and steering committee for making Project Connect successful once again!

Harbies

Harbies is our monthly staff get together, where we hold a potluck and spend the hour talking, playing games, and other fun for team bonding and to reduce stress.

October’s theme was “Halloween Party"! This month was hosted by the Leadership Team! They provided a delicious spread of Papa John’s pizza, sweet treats, and goody bags.

We were challenged to figure out Halloween riddles and then all participated in a bonding exercise to write “It scares me how well you…” on each other’s ghost sheet.

What’s Next

Hope for the Holidays:

We are currently planning our 28th annual holiday program, Hope for the Holidays and it has officially opened!

Our holiday program is designed to match each Hope Harbor resident with a sponsor family or business within the community to make their holiday wishes come true while at their temporary home.

Those wishing to sponsor someone should sign up by clicking the button below. Although the sign up period is through November 21, 2023, donors interested in sponsoring an individual will be notified of their information as soon as possible. To create consistency we ask that donors aim to spend $100.00 per individual resident. Gifts should be delivered to Hope Harbor no later than Monday, December 4th. They should be delivered unwrapped; we got it covered!

We also have clients that move in the week of the holiday party every year. Since it is too late to sponsor them, staff members shop for them. If you would like to donate gift cards and/or monetarily to help us with these last minute gifts, that would be greatly appreciated. Just note this when dropping off or mailing in your donation, or making a donation online, and we will make sure that is what the donation is used for.

Thank you!

September Wrap-Up

September Wrap-Up

Urgent needs

In the first six months of 2023, we have served 21,840 meals to our residents and 1,687 food boxes through our Community Assistance program. That’s about nine families visiting Hope Harbor for food boxes once a day from January to June.

Hope Harbor is an essential source of meals and our community's basic needs. Unfortunately, our food pantries have run critically low for the last few weeks.

We urgently ask you to please donate non-expired and unopened food pantry items.

Please donate canned veggies, meat, fruit, and soup; mac and cheese; pasta; pasta sauce; applesauce; crackers; cereal; beans; rice; peanut butter; jelly; salad dressing; and other non-perishable foods.

Other URGENT Needs:

  • Hygiene Needs:

    • Diapers (sizes 5-7)

    • Baby wipes

    • Men; women; and children’s deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash

    • Razors and shaving cream

    • Travel size hygiene items and travel size dental items

    • Pads (for regular and medium flows) and tampons (for all types of flows/sizes).

  • Other Needs:

    • Medicine for pain, stomach ache, anti-acids, cold/fever, allergy, etc.

    • Paper towels

    • Facial tissues

    • Towels

    • Sippy cups

    • Socks

Donations can be dropped off at our Service Center at 615 W 1st Street, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation outside of our business hours, please call our Direct Care Shelter staff at (308) 383-4634 to schedule a drop off.

You can also support Hope Harbor with monetary donations. Thank you!

Anniversaries

Join us in congratulating our Executive Director, Liz, who celebrated her ninth work anniversary in September!

Liz Mayfield

Executive Director

9th Anniversary

Staff Bonding

In September, Hope Harbor treated our team to a night out for dinner at Kiko’s Cantina. We enjoyed delicious meals, drinks, and conversation. Mini excursions off Hope Harbor property allows our team to decompress, converse with one another about our personal lives rather than professional lives, and have fun!

What’s Next

Our upcoming events for October include Week Without Violence and Project Connect.

Week Without Violence

Week Without Violence is part of a global movement with YWCAs across the country and around the world to end violence against women and girls. At YWCA, we know that not all violence is acknowledged or responded to equally and that some victims go unrecognized altogether. That’s why, for more than 20 years, YWCA has set aside one week in October as a Week Without Violence.

Join us from October 16–21, as we raise awareness, elevate survivor voices, talk with policymakers, and more with a common goal: centering survivors so that together, we can end gender-based violence.

Week Of Action

Monday, October 16th

  • Attend our group painting fundraiser at Arts & Drafts! (More info below!)

Tuesday, October 17th

  • Donate food items to Hope Harbor, Willow Rising, and YWCA to support survivors who have bravely left abusive homes.

Wednesday, October 18th

  • Light a candle to shed light on the seriousness of domestic violence and to light the way to a more unified community response.

Thursday, October 19th

  • Listen to a podcast about domestic violence, such as “I’m a Survivor”, “Shatterproof, Thriving After Domestic Abuse”, “Spotlight: The Podcast for the Domestic Abuse Sector”, and “It’s Not Normal, It’s Toxic”, etc.

Friday, October 20th

  • Wear purple to show solidarity in the fight to end domestic violence.

Saturday, October 21st

  • Share Hope Harbor’s, Willow Rising’s, and YWCA’s social media posts about local and national domestic violence statistics.

Week Without Violence Artists Needed

Hope Harbor, Willow Rising, and YWCA are seeking artists from all skill levels to submit their artwork based on the theme “Not On Our Screens, Not In Our Streets.” along with their bio. We will display the artwork at Arts & Drafts. Artists can also allow their artwork to be put up for auction to raise funds for our organizations. For more information or to submit your artwork and bio, contact Jennifer Figueroa, Teshawna Sawyer, or Tiffany Karre or register as an artist below.

Week Without Violence Group Painting

On Monday, October 16th, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm we will also be hosting a group painting with Arts & Drafts. This is a fundraising event benefitting Hope Harbor, YWCA, and Willow Rising. Join us for drinks, appetizers, the follow-along group painting, and more.

The art piece we will paint together!

The art piece we will paint together!

  • 5:30pm: Cocktails and Appetizers

  • 6:00pm: Begin Group Painting

  • 6:15pm: Hope Harbor, Willow Rising, and YWCA Agency Presentations (While step one of painting dries).

  • 6:30pm: Resume Group Painting

  • 7:00pm: Survivor Testimony

  • 7:15pm: Auction

  • 7:30pm: Enjoy your beautiful painting!

All are welcome to attend for free, but there is a ticket fee for the painting. A portion of proceeds from ticket sales and the funds raised from the auction will benefit Hope Harbor, Willow Rising, and YWCA. We hope you will join us to raise awareness against domestic violence.

Tickets for the group paint along can be purchased below.

Project Connect

Project Connect is a one-day, one-stop event where individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or near homelessness or financial hardship are able to receive a wide variety of immediate, on-site services and support for unmet needs. Those services include medical, dental, housing, legal, veteran’s services, haircuts, vision care, foot care, health screenings, and more.

If you are interested in providing your business’ or organization’s services for free at Project Connect, please click the button below.

Volunteering for Project Connect is a great opportunity to offer support to individuals and families in our community. To sign up, click the button below. If you have questions, please contact Alyssa Heagy at director@gihabitat.org to learn more about volunteer opportunities, information, etc. available.

Thank you to all Service Providers and volunteers who have signed up to offer their services and time!

August Wrap-Up

August Wrap-Up

Important announcement

Our new food pantry hours are from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Monday through Friday.

Anniversaries

Join us in congratulating our staff member, Vanessa, who celebrated their first work anniversary in August!

Vanessa Ramirez-Acosta

Direct Care Staff

1st Anniversary

A hopeful Start

Our 1st annual back-to-school program, A Hopeful Start, was a success! We’d like to thank every sponsor who signed up to provide school supplies for each of our children!

Kelsey, our Children’s Program Coordinator, set up a beautiful back-to-school party. She made name cards, set up their backpacks filled with supplies on their chairs, and had activities and snacks at each seat.

The kids played games like “Minute to Win It”, bingo, three-legged race, and more. Then they were able to open up their backpacks and see all the supplies for their school year!

Thank you for giving our children, A Hopeful Start.

Urgent needs

Food Pantry Needs:

  • Canned Veggies, canned meat, canned fruit, canned soup, pasta, pasta sauce, applesauce, crackers, cereal, beans, rice, peanut butter, jelly, salad dressing, meal prep kits, and other non-perishable foods.

Hygiene Needs:

  • Diapers (sizes 4-7), baby wipes, men; women; and children’s deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and razors and shaving cream.

Feminine Product Needs:

  • Pads (for regular and medium flows) and tampons (for all types of flows/sizes).

Other Needs:

  • Medicine for pain, stomach ache, anti-acids, cold/fever, etc. and paper towels.

Donations can be dropped off at our Service Center at 615 W 1st Street, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation outside of our business hours, please call our Direct Care Shelter staff at (308) 383-4634 to schedule a drop off.

You can also support Hope Harbor with monetary donations. Thank you!

Harbies

Harbies is our monthly staff get together, where we hold a potluck and spend the hour talking, playing games, and other fun for team bonding and to reduce stress.

August’s theme was “Back to School"! We brought all our favorite school lunches/after school snacks such as pb&j uncrustables, rice krispy bars, hummus with veggies, apples with peanut butter and caramel, puppy chow, capri suns, and more.

We played bingo, a back to school guessing game, and tapple!

Harbies - August 2023

What’s Next

Our upcoming events include Week Without Violence and Project Connect.

Week Without Violence will be on Thursday, October 19th. Week Without Violence is a global movement with YWCAs across the country and around the world to end violence against women and girls. Hope Harbor partners up with YWCA and Willow Rising to raise awareness in Grand Island. We will hold our 2nd annual gala exhibit and auction once again! More details to come!

Project Connect will be on Thursday, October 26th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Project Connect is a one-day, one-stop event where individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or near homelessness are able to receive a wide variety of immediate, on-site services and support for unmet needs. Visit www.projectconnectgi.org for more details.

Week Without Violence

Project Connect

July Wrap-Up

July Wrap-Up

New Program

Hope Harbor is presenting our 1st annual back-to-school program. Our Children’s Program Coordinator, Kelsey, was inspired to create the program for the children residing in our shelter. She believes that each child deserves to be prepared with all the necessary school supplies to start the school year. Thus, A Hopeful Start, was born.

The program is designed to match each child with a sponsor in the community. Each sponsor will receive a school supply shopping list for the child they are matched with. The children have also filled out forms indicating their age, school grade, gender, and favorites, such as, color, animal, and character. This will allow the sponsor to better purchase items the child will enjoy!

To ensure equality among the children, we ask that donors aim to spend $50 per child.

Deadlines:

  • Sign up to sponsor a child(ren) by Monday, August 7th.

  • Bring purchased school supplies for your sponsored child(ren) no later than 4:00 pm on Wednesday, August 9th.

Thank you for giving our children, A Hopeful Start.

Urgent donation needs

Shelter Needs:

  • Paper towels

  • Towels (bath, hand, and washcloths

Food Pantry Needs:

  • Canned Veggies

  • Canned Meat

  • Canned Fruit

  • Canned Soup

  • Pasta

  • Pasta Sauce

  • Mac n’ cheese

  • Applesauce

  • Crackers

  • Cereal

  • Oatmeal

  • Beans

  • Rice

  • Peanut Butter

  • Jelly

  • Salad Dressing

  • Meal Prep Kits

  • Other Non-perishable Foods.

Donations can be dropped off at our Service Center at 615 W 1st Street, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation outside of our business hours, please call our Direct Care Shelter staff at (308) 383-4634 to schedule a drop off.

You can also support Hope Harbor with monetary donations. Thank you!

Harbies

Harbies is our monthly staff get together, where we hold a potluck and spend the hour talking, playing games, and other fun for team bonding and to reduce stress.

July’s theme was Summertime Barbie Bash! We brought chips and dip, ice cream, cookies, cake, and more. We played board games and did some fun dares!

The highlight of the event was that Subway catered our meal! They donated two dozen cookies and two party platters! They also are hosting donation drives at their locations for Hope Harbor.

Thank you!

Harbies - July 2023

Highlight - Subway’s donation

June Wrap-Up

June Wrap-Up

Anniversaries

Join us in congratulating our staff members who celebrated their work anniversaries in June.

Denae Brandt Service Coordinator 1st Anniversary

Kelsey Dramse Children’s Program Coordinator 1st Anniversary

Sara Moore Facilities Manager 6th Anniversary

Go Big Give Recap

A huge way Hope Harbor operates is on funds from fundraising efforts. While we host our own fundraisers like Serving Up Hope and Hunting for Hope, we also participate in Go Big Give, the 24-hour online giving event by Greater Grand Island Community Foundation and Heartland United Way.

For 2023, we increased our goal once again. This year we aimed to raise $15,000. Not only did we meet that goal, we surpassed it!

Thank you to all of our loyal and new supporters! Your generosity will benefit our Emergency Shelter program, Transitional Shelter program, and our Community Assistance program. These programs provide safe and immediate shelter, case management programming with plans of success towards self-sufficiency, basic essential needs (such as food boxes), and so much more.

Enjoy our memes and challenge videos below!

Urgent donation needs

Shelter Needs:

  • Men and women’s deodorant

  • Men’s shampoo

  • Women’s conditioner

  • Men and women’s body wash

  • Children’s hygiene items

  • Adult and children toothbrushes

  • Razors and shaving cream

  • Q-tips

  • Sunscreen

  • First aid kits/items

  • Medicine: pain, stomach ache, anti-acids, cold/fever, etc.

  • Diapers (sizes 4-7)

  • Baby wipes

  • Paper towels

Food Pantry Needs:

  • Canned Veggies

  • Canned Meat

  • Canned Fruit

  • Canned Soup

  • Pasta

  • Pasta Sauce

  • Applesauce

  • Crackers

  • Cereal

  • Beans

  • Rice

  • Peanut Butter

  • Jelly

  • Salad Dressing

  • Meal Prep Kits

  • Other Non-perishable Foods.

Community Assistance Needs:

  • Diapers (sizes 4-7)

  • Baby wipes

  • Pull ups

  • Travel size shampoo and conditioner

  • Men and women’s deodorant

  • Bars of soap

  • Baby/infant hygiene items

  • Toothbrushes

Donations can be dropped off at our Service Center at 615 W 1st Street, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation outside of our business hours, please call our Direct Care Shelter staff at (308) 383-4634 to schedule a drop off.

You can also support Hope Harbor with monetary donations. Thank you!

Harbies

Harbies is our monthly staff get together, where we hold a potluck and spend the hour talking, playing games, and other fun.

June’s theme was Party Animal! We brought animal shaped/themed foods and played “Who Am I?”, where we guessed what animal was taped to our back as we took turns asking yes or no questions. We even had a surprise guest… a lion!

Harbies - June 2023

Surprise Guest - Buddy as “Lion”

May Wrap-Up

May Wrap-Up

Congratulations

We are excited to celebrate our Marketing Coordinator, Jennifer Figueroa, on her graduation from Leadership Tomorrow, Class 37. We’re so thankful for her ongoing dedication to the community and her passion for ensuring equity for all.

Urgent donation needs

Community Assistance Needs:

  • Diapers (sizes 4-7)

  • Baby wipes

  • Pull ups

  • Travel size shampoo and conditioner

  • Men and women’s deodorant

  • Bars of soap

  • Baby/infant hygiene items

  • Toothbrushes

Shelter Needs:

  • Men and women’s deodorant

  • Men’s shampoo

  • Women’s conditioner

  • Men and women’s body wash

  • Children’s hygiene items

  • Adult and children toothbrushes

  • Razors and shaving cream

  • Q-tips

  • Sunscreen

  • First aid kits/items

  • Medicine: pain, stomach ache, anti-acids, cold/fever, etc.

  • Diapers (sizes 4-7)

  • Baby wipes

  • Paper towels

Donations can be dropped off at our Service Center at 615 W 1st Street, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation outside of our business hours, please call our Direct Care Shelter staff at (308) 383-4634 to schedule a drop off.

You can also support Hope Harbor with monetary donations. Thank you!

April Wrap-Up

April Wrap-Up

Anniversaries

Join us in congratulating our staff member who celebrated their work anniversary in April!

Jen Bernth, Finance Manager

8th Anniversary

Hunting for Hope Recap

On April 28, we held our sixth annual Hunting for Hope fundraiser! We are grateful for every sponsor, board member, staff, and especially every team that participated in our successful event!

We can’t thank our generous sponsors enough for their financial support that helps us acquire the cash prizes, prizes, Goosechase app, and more. We appreciate our board members for their dedication in acquiring our sponsors, teams, creativity for clues, etc. We also want to thank our staff for taking care of all the behind the scenes tasks that made the event run smoothly!

This year, we had 25 teams sign up for the scavenger hunt and search for 18 clues around Grand Island.

Our 2023 Champion is… Meal Team Six! Team members include: Victor Zurita, Heather Zurita, Miranda Earnest, Garett Garniss, Alberto Solache, and Lisa Solache. This team took our 1st place prize of $500 and posed with our new Hunting for Hope trophy!

Our 2nd and 3rd place winners are… TMNT: The Midwestern Ninja Team and Sherlock Homegirls! They took home $250 and $100 respectively.

The Top 10 Teams

  1. Meal Team Six, 1800 points, 7:43 pm

  2. TMNT, 1800 points, 7:48 pm

  3. Sherlock Homegirls, 1800 points, 7:57 pm

  4. The Clues Brothers, 1800 points, 7:58 pm

  5. Hood Insurance, 1800 points, 8:01 pm

  6. Connect The Dots, 1800 points, 8:04 pm

  7. Saturday Night Afterlife - Flower and Pete, 1800 points, 8:05 pm

  8. High Eye-Q, 1800, 8:13 pm

  9. Bravo 12, 1700 points, 7:55 pm

  10. We Thought This Was Bingo, 1700 points, 8:02 pm

Category Awards

Check out our social media for our secret category winners and The Hunt Raffle winner. Keep an eye out for when we upload all the photos from the hunt for our 2023 Hunting for Hope album on Facebook, @hopeharborgi.

Go Big Give Recap

We set a new goal this year for Go Big Give. This year we raised the bar to $15,000 and not only did we meet this goal… we surpassed it!

We cannot express our gratitude enough to all our donors for supporting us.

Check out our social media for our memes, statistics, and quotes. Don’t forget to check out our Youtube channel as well with all our challenge videos that proves how committed our staff is to Hope Harbor!

THANK YOU!

March Wrap-Up

March Wrap-Up

Anniversaries

Join us in congratulating our staff member who celebrated their work anniversaries in March!

Jennifer Figueroa, Marketing Coordinator

3rd Anniversary

Ryleigh Schroeder, Case Manager

2nd Anniversary

Jodie Veeder, Program Manger

8th Anniversary

Hope Harbor needs

Thanks to all our generous donors and supporters, we currently don’t have any urgent needs!

While we currently do no have any urgent needs, we will always happily accept our year-round donation item needs.

Check out those needs HERE.

If you’d like to donate, please drop off donations at our Service Center, Monday through Friday, from 8:00am to 4:00pm.

For after hour donations, call our Direct Care Staff at (308) 383-4634 to arrange a drop off.

Thank you, you help keep Hope Harbor a shelter from the storm.

What’s next

Join us on Friday, April 28th!

Couples, friends, family, coworkers; grab your teammates and sign up for a scavenger hunt adventure while supporting the women, children, and families of Hope Harbor. $30 per participant!

CASH PRIZES

  • 1st place wins $500 and four gold medals.

  • 2nd place wins $250 and four silver medals.

  • 3rd place wins $100 and four bronze medals.

PRIZES

  • Best Team Costume

  • Best Team Name

  • Best Team Video

Register today! www.hopeharborgi.org/huntingforhope.

February Wrap-Up

February Wrap-Up

Anniversaries

Join us in congratulating our staff member who celebrated their work anniversary in January!

Molly Clark, Operations Manager

2nd Anniversary

Welcome

Our team has grown quite a bit since our last newsletter! Join us in welcoming Becky Jarzynka, Emily Bennetzen, and Jasmin Lopez. Our newest team members have joined our Direct Care Staff team at the Shelter. Pictures and bios will be coming soon!

Hope Harbor needs

Thanks to all our generous donors and supporters, we currently don’t have any urgent needs!

After posting multiple social media posts asking for help to restock our depleted food pantries and traditional media sharing our ask, we were flooded with donation after donation. Donors came by with food pantry items such as: cereal, pasta, pasta sauce, canned meat, canned veggies, and other non-perishable goods. We have been able to replenish the food pantry for our residents and the food pantry in the Service Center for our Community Assistance program.

While we no longer have an urgent need for food pantry items, we will always happily accept more to continue providing meals to our residents and those in need in the community.

If you’d like to donate, please drop off donations at our Service Center, Monday through Friday, from 8:00am to 4:00pm.

For after hour donations, call our Direct Care Staff at (308) 383-4634 to arrange a drop off.

Thank you, you help keep Hope Harbor a shelter from the storm.

Hope for the Holidays RecaP

Words can’t begin to describe how grateful we are to our community! With your help, we were able to create a wonderful memory for our residents.

We would like to thank the community members who participated in Hope for the Holidays, US Cellular, Tommy Gunz Restaurant, Blue Star Christmas Tree & Reindeer Farm, and Santa! Hope for the Holidays sponsors made wishes come true by fulfilling our residents' gift wishlists! US Cellular's generous donation allowed us to upgrade our annual resident party to a larger location with a fancy meal and decorations. Their employees also allowed our staff members to catch a break by volunteering to serve the food, transport the gifts, and so much more! Tommy Gunz provided a much-needed larger space with corn hole for entertainment. Blue Star Farm brought reindeer Dolly & Dash for our residents to enjoy. Santa, of course, made an appearance and made holiday wishes come true!

Thank you!

Serving Up Hope ReCap

We’d like to thank every single donor, supporter, volunteer, staff member, and board member for another successful Serving Up Hope fundraiser!

For our 11th Serving Up Hope gala, our theme was “Mystery in the Making.” We kept the featured ingredient and featured chef a secret! We revealed our featured chef was Sonephet Manivong, owner and chef of Sticky Rice. At the gala, we revealed the master ingredient was Thai eggplant! Chef Sonephet provided a delicious Thai eggplant soup with rice during our cocktail hour.

After dinner, we heard the testimony of our former resident, Kathie. As always, we gave Kathie a standing ovation for sharing her story and vulnerability. It is always inspiring to be able to hear the journey of a resident first hand. Shortly after, we surpassed our Bid for Hope monetary goal thanks to all our generous donors at the event and even from those who could not make it!

Our Silent Auction closed right after and the nearly 100 items we had, all sold!

Before kicking off our Live Auction, we began with a fan favorite game, the First-Chance Drawing! Guests were able to purchase a $100 ticket(s) in hopes of being drawn to win and select any of the live auction items. Our raffle winners ended up being Drs. Josh and Lynda Conner! They chose the beautiful trip to Costa Rica, which was an item we could still offer on the auction again! Our Live Auction then began and the buzz in the room was off the charts. Supporters bid back and forth, raising the funds for Hope Harbor.

Halfway through the Live Auction, we played another classic Hope Harbor Serving Up Hope game, Heads or Tails. Heads or Tails is a competition game where guests guess if the flipped coin will land on heads or tails and the last player will win $500 cash. To play this game, they purchase a Hope Harbor merchandise item. This year we sold blue spatulas with our Hope Harbor logo on it and the $500 cash was sponsored by Lutz. Once we got down to our last 10 players, we pulled them on stage and continued the game! After the winner claimed their prize, we resumed our Live Auction.

Once our Live Auction ended, we wrapped up the night and celebrated another successful Serving Up Hope fundraiser.

What’s next

Hunting for Hope! Our 6th annual scavenger hunt fundraiser is coming up soon! Save the date and stay tuned on our social media for new information.

November Wrap-Up

November Wrap-Up

Welcome

Join us in welcoming our newest staff member, Vanessa Ramirez Acosta!

She’s been with us now for three months as part of our Direct Care Staff members. A picture and bio will be coming soon…

Hope Harbor needs

We are always in need of food pantry items for our Shelter and Community Assistance food pantries.

We are also in need of adult winter hats, gloves, and blankets as the cold months are upon us.

To drop off donations, visit our Service Center, Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm.

For after hour donations, call our Direct Care Staff at (308) 383-4634 to arrange a drop off.

Thank you!

Hope for the Holidays

We are so close to having all our residents sponsored by community members for the holidays!

We new have some new individuals and families moving in and we need last minute shoppers or donations. Will you help make holiday wishes come true?

Sign up to sponsor a resident(s) or donate online and we can do the shopping!

What’s next

Serving Up Hope!

Our 11th Serving Up Hope event will be on January 28, 2023. In 2022, we celebrated our 10th anniversary and switched some things up. In 2023, we will continue featuring only one chef rather than a four chef competition. We will also be introducing a new twist, keeping our featured ingredient a secret! We will be revealing our mystery ingredient at our event!

Purchase tickets below and join us on a night filled with a mystery appetizer, delicious dinner, and silent and live auctions to support Hope Harbor.

Our Featured Chef is…

Can you guess our Mystery Ingredient?

Teaser #1: I'm full of fiber, potassium, manganese, and antioxidants. 👍

Teaser #2: Unlike others, I'm available year-round. 📆

Teaser #3: I'm just like you; the older I get, the more bitter. ☺️➡️😒

Teaser #4: I'm very popular in three different cuisines. 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣

Follow us @hopeharborgi on Facebook and Twitter for more mystery ingredient teasers!

October Wrap-Up

October Wrap-Up

Welcome

Join us in welcoming our newest staff member!

Heather Williams

Service Coordinator

Week Without Violence

For the past couple of years we have collaborated with YWCA and Willow Rising for Week Without Violence. For 2020 and 2021, due to COVID-19, our event was a gallery walk. We placed professional and amateur artwork in the windows of businesses in Railside. For 2022, we hosted a gallery exhibit. We displayed artwork in the windows of The Gallery Bar for the full week of Week Without Violence, October 17th - 22nd. On Friday, October 21st, we hosted our first in person event, Week Without Violence Gallery Exhibit, at The Gallery Bar.

We provided resources and information from various organizations in the community that can help survivors and family members of survivors in need. During our cocktail hour, we offered pizza from Wave Pizza and specialty drinks Purple for a Purpose and Taking a Stand. After the cocktail hour, we headed down stairs where Hope Harbor, Willow Rising, and YWCA each presented for our organizations and how we can help survivors. Next, we listened to our testimonial speakers, Shelby and Brenda, who shared their experiences with domestic violence. Later, we held the auction and all three pieces were sold. We ended the night mingling, karaoke, and helping ourselves to more pizza and drinks!

We extremely grateful to Wave Pizza and Brendt Linder for providing and donating the delicious pizza, Brenda at The Gallery Bar for hosting our event and creating our specialty drinks, Shelby and Brenda for being vulnerable and sharing their stores, and of course our artists for allowing us to display their beautiful artwork and those who allowed us to auction off their artwork benefitting our organizations.

Thank you!

Project Connect

We held our annual Project Connect event on October 27th at the Pinnacle Bank Expo. This was our tenth year providing free services to those in need in one day.

This year, we had 50 Service Providers sign up and offer their services or information about their services to individuals and families. We also surpassed last year’s numbers of households and individuals that received assistance.

We are thankful for all our Service Providers, volunteers, and steering committee for making Project Connect successful once again!

Hope Harbor needs

We are always in need of food pantry items for our Shelter and Community Assistance food pantries.

We are also in need of adult winter hats, gloves, and blankets as the cold months are upon us.

To drop off donations, visit our Service Center, Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm.

For after hour donations, call our Direct Care Staff at (308) 383-4634 to arrange a drop off.

Thank you!

What’s next

Serving Up Hope!

Our 11th Serving Up Hope event will be on January 28, 2023. This year we celebrated our 10th anniversary and switched things up. This year, we will continue featuring only one chef rather than a four chef competition. and we are also keeping our featured ingredient a secret! We will be revealing our mystery ingredient at our event!

Follow our social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @hopeharborgi to keep up with further updates about Serving Up Hope.

2023 Serving Up Hope Mystery Ingredient

Teaser #1: I'm full of fiber, potassium, manganese, and antioxidants.

August & September Wrap-Up

August & September Wrap-Up

Anniversaries

Join us in congratulating our staff member who celebrated their work anniversaries in September!

Jackie Norris, Overnight Responder

6th Anniversary

Liz Mayfield, Executive Director

8th Anniversary

Welcome

Join us in welcoming our newest staff members!

Ashley Smith

Direct Care Staff

Kelsey Dramse

Children’s Program Coordinator

Denae Brandt

Direct Care Staff

Hope Harbor Staff Paint Party

We’d like thank our Executive Director, Liz Mayfield, and our board members for organizing a fun night out for our staff!

Together we enjoyed time chatting and painting a flower with “Hope” in the middle. It was a fun way to release stress, reduce burnout, and bond.

After painting, we headed off to Big Red Treats and enjoyed frozen yogurt.

We are so thankful for a leadership team who prioritizes our mental health! Our staff comes back stronger than ever after each relaxing event to better serve our community and residents.

Thank you!

Keepers of Hope

We are excited to announce Hope Harbor’s legacy, Keepers of Hope! Keepers of Hope is a community of former board members and executive directors who want to stay connected to Hope Harbor’s mission. Through occasional gatherings, they'’ll stay connected to our mission and our continuing work in the community.

Hope Harbor needs

We are in urgent need of food pantry items, pillows, toilet paper, and paper towels.

With the help of donations from the community, we are able to use our budget in other areas, such as our utility bills or for other necessary items we can’t ask the community for.

To drop off donations, visit our Service Center, Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm.

For after hour donations, call our Direct Care Staff at (308) 383-4634 to arrange a drop off.

Thank you!

What’s next

Week Without Violence is coming up soon! Week Without Violence is from October 17-22. This year, to stand up against domestic violence and give survivors a voice, we are hosting a gallery exhibit with YWCA and Willow Rising on October 21st. If you’d like to create and submit artwork or get more details about our event, click on the button below!

Project Connect is also around the corner! A day of free services for those in need will be on October 27th. Right now, we need businesses and organizations to sign up to offer their services for free for the community. We also need volunteers! If you’d like to sign up your organization or volunteer, click on the button below!

July Wrap-Up

July Wrap-Up

Anniversaries

Join us in congratulating our staff member who celebrated their work anniversary in July!

Shannon Ortiz, Case Manager

1st Anniversary

Join our Team

We are still growing our team! We are currently in need of one more Direct Care Staff member. DCS work in the shelter with our residents.

Click the button below to apply or for more information.

Hope Harbor Staff Pool party

We’d like to thank our Executive Director, Liz Mayfield, for hosting a pool party for staff and family at her home!

Together we enjoyed bbq pulled pork sandwiches, loaded baked potato salad, pasta salad, fruit, chips, and dessert!

We relaxed in the shade while doing arts and crafts or catching up with each other. We also enjoyed a dip in the pool and played games!

We are thankful for another opportunity to bond with each other and a day dedicated to resting. Our staff comes back stronger than ever after each event to better serve our community and residents.

Thank you!

Hope Harbor needs

We are in urgent need of toilet paper, paper towels, and women’s hygiene items such as body wash, deodorant, hair conditioner, and hair brushes.

With the help of donations from the community, we are able to use our budget in other areas, such as our utility bills or for other necessary items we can’t ask the community for.

To drop off donations, visit our Service Center Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm.

Volunteer Opportunities

Interested in donating your time to Hope Harbor? We are looking for a couple of folks who can help us organize our shelter and shelter’s kitchen. If you can commit 5-10 hours a week, consider filling out the form below!

June Wrap-Up

June Wrap-Up

Anniversaries

Join us in congratulating our staff member who celebrated their work anniversary in June!

Sara Moore, Shelter Manager

5th Anniversary

Goodbye, Hello

This past month, we sadly said goodbye to our Case Manager, Bri Cleveland. While we are sad to see her go, we are happy for her future in a new career field. We’re heartbroken to see a caring, attentive, and team player go! We can’t wait to work with you in the future as a volunteer!💙

We are excited to announce new staff changes and additions! Our Direct Care Staff member, Shannon Ortiz, will now be our new Case Manager! Shannon originally joined Hope Harbor in August 2021 as part time Direct Care Staff. She will transition over to the Service Center as a Case Manager in July. Shannon was born in Kearney and raised in Grand Island. In 2002, she moved with her family to Bradshaw and recently moved back to Grand Island in February 2021. She is currently enrolled in Bellevue University working towards her Bachelors Degree in Behavioral Science. She is the mother of two sons and one daughter ages 20, 23 and 26. Her grandson is the light of her life. She enjoys spending time with her family, listening to music, camping, and taking road trips.

Congratulations Shannon!

We are also excited to share that our most recent intern, Kelsey Dramse, will be our new Children’s Program Coordinator!

We would like to welcome Denae Brandt, Ashley Smith, and Melanie Schreiber, our newest staff members, to the Direct Care Staff team!

Keep an eye out for photos and bios!

Join our Team

We are still growing our team! We are currently in need of one more Direct Care Staff member. DCS work in the shelter with our residents.

Click the button below to apply or for more information.

Hope Harbor Staff Spa Day

We’d like to thank our board members for their support in caring for our mental and physical health, our Executive Director, Liz Mayfield, for advocating for our staff to prevent burnout, and Sana Vida Wellness for hosting us on our spa day.

We enjoyed a group yoga class, full body massage chairs, floatation therapy, sauna, foot baths, and vibro acoustic lounge.

A much needed rest day! We’re thankful for the reset and are ready to continue serving our residents and community.

Can Care-A-Van

Thank you to everyone who donated to Can Care-A-Van, which collected 34,600 pounds of food donations for our Grand Island community food pantries: Hope Harbor, Salvation Army, Blessed Sacrament, and St. Mary’s.

A big thank you to both Super Savers for hosting us, volunteers, and staff for manning our booths, sorting donations, and transporting donations to each of our agencies. We appreciate all your help. Thank you to everyone who donated food and monetary gifts. We couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for making this another successful Can Care-A-Van food drive!

Volunteer Opportunities

Interested in donating your time to Hope Harbor? We are looking for a couple of folks who can help us organize our shelter and shelter’s kitchen. If you can commit 5-10 hours a week, consider filling out the form below!

April & May Wrap-Up

April & May Wrap-Up

Anniversaries

Join us in congratulating our staff member who celebrated their work anniversary in April!

Jennifer Bernth, Office Manager

7th Anniversary

Goodbye, Hello

In April, we sadly said goodbye to our front desk administrative assistant, Vivian Tum-Hernandez. It was bittersweet! While we were happy to see her pursue new opportunities, we were sad to see such an essential and sweet coworker go. Congratulations and good luck on all new endeavors Vivian! 💙

We were lucky to welcome our new team member, Trey Staples as our new front desk administrative assistant! Trey moved to Nebraska from New York in 2021. Before joining Hope Harbor, Trey served in many administrative roles from colleges to insurance agencies. He is currently enrolled at Southern New Hampshire University’s Masters in Business Administration: Human Resources Management program. Trey and his girlfriend are expecting a baby girl in August of 2022 and are excited to start their family together. Trey enjoys providing service in the community and has volunteered back home through Habitat for Humanity and the Buffalo City Mission.

Welcome Trey!

Join our Team

We’re hiring! We are in need of team members to join our direct care staff that work in the shelter with our residents or join our case managers who work in the Service Center and also work directly with our residents.

For more information and to apply, click here.

Happy Administrator’s Day

We’d like to thank our administrative team, Trey and Jen for doing all that they do! Hope Harbor runs so smoothly because of you two!

Resident Highlight

In May, we had a former Emergency Shelter resident visit our Service Center. Yanet shared her brave story with us below.

My name is Yanet. I used to stay at the Emergency Shelter from 2019 to 2021, at least 15 times. I always needed Hope Harbor. I struggled with addiction to meth to the point I literally lost my mind. I was always in such bad conditions, there were times I didn’t even know my name or recognize myself. I had no idea where to go, but someone came up to me one day and told me about Hope Harbor. She brought me here and you all helped clean myself up, gave me food, and gave me a place to stay. I always ended up here because it was the only place I felt safe and sound. I trusted you guys because you are good people. After Hope Harbor, I hit rock bottom and spent nine months in jail. I found God and I’m now drug free. I want to let everyone know that all the people that have been through this can come out on top. They have the right to change because they can. You just have to try and know you’re worthy. I’m at a new beginning in my life and I’m not the person I was before. I have the strength to move forward and I’m happier. I almost lost my life, but it’s never too late to start over. I’m so thankful to Hope Harbor for having helped me when I needed it. The hospitality during my crisis was essential. I’m back now for help gathering some documents so I can go ahead and get a job. I know you guys can help me once again. I have and will always recommend Hope Harbor.

We are so happy to see Yanet in the new chapter of her life! We are so proud and glad we were part of your journey to a self-sufficient life. 💙

Peachis, our Service Coordinator, and Yanet.

GO Big Give

Each year we dedicate our fundraising efforts to a couple events. In January, we host Serving Up Hope, a gala dinner and auction. In April, we host Hunting for Hope, a unique scavenger hunt across Grand Island. Go Big Give is the only other fundraiser that we don’t host, but participate in to raise money towards our operating expenses and programs.

This year, our Go Big Give goal was $12,000. These funds would benefit our Emergency Shelter Program, Transitional Shelter Program, and our Community Assistance Program. These programs provide safe and immediate shelter, case management programming with plans of success towards self-sufficiency, basic essential needs such as food boxes, and so much more.

Go Big Give is our chance to make things fun with our classic memes, but this year we added challenges! With the continuous support of our loyal donors and generous new donors we surpassed our goal!

Enjoy our memes and videos of our challenges below! What do you think we will do next year?

$2,000 Goal - The Sour & Spicy Challenge

$4,000 Goal - The Pie in the Face Challenge

$6,000 - The Blind Taste Test Challenge

$8,000 - The Sprite Challenge

$10,000 - The Karaoke Challenge

$12,000 - The Penguin Challenge

What’s Up Next?

Can Care-A-Van is an annual food drive that takes place in various communities across Nebraska. The Grand Island Can Care-A-Van will be collecting canned food and other non-perishable food pantry items. The food drive donations will be donated to the Blessed Sacrament Food Pantry, Camille’s Cupboard (St. Mary’s Cathedral Food Pantry), Hope Harbor’s Shelter and Service Center Food Pantries, and the Salvation Army. Monetary donations are also welcome.

DONATIONS NEEDED

  • Canned Veggies

  • Other Canned Goods

  • Spaghetti Sauce

  • Pastas

  • Tuna & Chicken Helpers

  • Paper Towels

  • Toilet Paper

  • Peanut Butter

  • Sugar

  • Coffee

  • Cereal

  • Soups

  • Canned Meats

  • Canned Fruits

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We need volunteers for the Can Care-A-Van food drive!

Volunteer Role:

  • Unload canned good items.

  • Distribute items among four pantries.

  • Load items onto personal or HH vehicles.

  • Deliver and unload items at Hope Harbor.

  • Be able to carry boxes that may weigh 10 to 25lbs or more.

  • Available to show up within 15 minutes to volunteer for a couple hours to unload the truck (we aren’t aware what time the truck will arrive.)

Fill out the volunteer form below to sign up!

Email Jennifer at jfigueroa@hopeharborgi.org for any questions.

Thank you!

Hunting for Hope Wrap-Up Newsletter

Hunting for Hope 2022 Wrap-Up

First, we’d like to thank everyone for supporting Hope Harbor! Hunting for Hope was only possible by having the support of our sponsors, board members, staff, and the Leadership Tomorrow Impact Team. We’re grateful for our sponsors for donating at various monetary levels that helped us acquire our clue app - GooseChase, medals, prizes, and more. We appreciate our board members and their creativity in drafting the unique scavenger hunt clues, acquiring teams, and sponsorships. We are also thankful for our staff who always jumps in to help with any task! Lastly, we are indebted to the Leadership Tomorrow Impact Team for helping generate buzz about our event and for going above and beyond with our marketing strategy.

This year we had a record breaking attendance! We were able to have 35 teams, 128 people, sign up to participate in our scavenger hunt!!!

The competition was on and we challenged everyone with 17 clues across Grand Island… But, Grand Island challenged us! The weather was not in our favor. In 2020, due to COVID-19, we transformed from a scavenger hunt on foot in downtown to a scavenger hunt on wheels across Grand Island. So, Hunting for Hope: Road Edition was born. This year, we had to transform once more and created Hunting for Hope: Thunderstruck Edition! The rain did not hold us back! We had a few minor hiccups, such as replacing our Best Decorated Car award with a Hot Wheels Jar game and removing our physical tasks, Roadblocks. That way our participants could stay safe and dry in their vehicles. ⛈🙅‍♀️🤗

We awarded teams with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place medals. We also awarded teams with prizes and certificates for Best Team Costume, Best Team Photo, Best Team Video, Best Team Name, Hot Wheels Jar Winner, and Survey Raffle Winner.

🥇🥈🥉🏆

Join us in congratulating our winners! 🎉🎉🎉

Winners

Leadership Board

Teams were able to accumulate a total of 1,700 points and had to return to the finish line by or before 8:30pm to win. Winners are based on total points first and then by finish time. The competition was neck in neck this year! Some off just by minutes! Congratulations everyone, we are super impressed that so many teams were able to accomplish all or nearly all of the clues! 👏🕵️‍♀️

1st Place

  • Beach Nuts, 1700 points, 7:34pm

2nd Place

  • Ope, Excuse Me, 1700 points, 7:36pm

3rd Place

  • Cherry Pie Tribe, 1700 points, 7:44pm

4th

  • Amelia Earhart Search Party, 1700 points, 7:45pm

5th

  • Captains of Chaos, 1700 points, 7:55pm

6th

  • Rowley With The Mommies, 1700 points, 7:56pm

  • Searchasaurus, 1700 points, 7:56pm

7th

  • Sloppy Sets, 1700 points, 8:04pm

8th

  • Moana Win, 1700 points, 8:06pm

9th

  • The Clue Crew, 1700 points, 8:16pm

10th

  • Bob Who?, 1700 points, 8:17pm

11th

  • Shore To Win, 1700 points

12th

  • Donut Worry, Be Happy, 1700 points

  • Sore Winners, 1700 points

13th

  • Clueminati, 1500 points

14th

  • Cow Bells, 1500 points

15th

  • The Grand Island Go Getters, 1500 points

16th

  • Hope Is On The Way, 1400 points

17th

  • Unity Eye Centers #2, 1400 points

18th

  • All Play, No Work, 1300 points

19th

  • Sand-sational Beachcombers, 1200 points

20th

  • Unity Eye Centers #1, 1200 points

21st

  • Hope and Dreams Come True!, 1200 points

22nd

  • PARRfecto, 1200 points

23rd

  • What About Bob? 1100 points

24th

  • Take Me Out To The Ball Game, 1100 points

25th

  • Meddling Kids, 1100 points

26th

  • The Dream Team, 800 points

27th

  • Sister Squad, 800 points

28th

  • 222, 600 points

29th

  • Harper’s Scouts, 400 points

30th

  • Agatha’s Agents, 300 points

31st

  • Goplin, 100 points

32nd

  • No Limits, 0 points

  • The Amazing Racers, 0 points

Awards & Runner Ups

Best Team Costume - Meddling Kids

Meddling Kids did a great job at coming up with a cohesive team costume that matched their Team Name. Only missing the Mystery Machine and Scooby Doo!

  • Runner Ups

    • Agatha’s Agents

    • Hope and Dreams Come True

    • Bob Who?

    • What About Bob?

Best Team Video - Bob Who?

Bob Who? did a sweet job at recreating a classic James Corden Carpool Karaoke segment. They each sang along to Blondies’ “One Way Or Another”, a song fitting for a scavenger hunt! They also panned the camera to each participant and threw in some great choreo and facials! Bravo! 🎬

  • Runner Ups

    • Amelia Earhart Search Party

    • Moana Win

    • Rowley With The Mommies

  • Honorable Mentions 🤭

    • Hope and Dreams Come True

    • Hope Is On The Way

    • Ope, Excuse Me

    • Sand-sational Beachcombers

    • Shore to Win

    • Sloppy Sets

    • Unity Eye Centers

    • What About Bob?

Best Team Photo - Searchasaurus

Searchasauras was one of the few teams, if not the only one, to include all their team members into their photos and even stepped out into the crazy weather to pose with Abe! 👏

  • Runner Ups

    • Clueminati

    • Cow Bells

Best Team Name - Clueminati

Clueminati did a great job incorporating the heart of our theme, clue hunting!

  • Runner Ups

    • Agatha’s Agents

    • Ope, Excuse Me

    • Searchasaurus

    • The Clue Crew

    • Sore Winners

Check out our Facebook to see all the photos and winners of our creative and talented Teams!!!

Clues

A lot of our teams managed to crack all or majority of our clues! For those of you itching to know the answers to the ones you weren’t able to solve, check your email!

Survey Results

Thank you everyone for the feedback! We will take all your comments and suggestions into consideration to create an even better Hunting for Hope Scavenger Hunt next year! As for the top comments/suggestions… we will try to control the weather better and make the clues easier! 😅

Thank you

Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who supported Hope Harbor! The support we receive makes it possible to continue helping those in need of our shelter programs and community assistance program.

Sponsors

  • Finish Line

    • JBS

  • Scavenger

    • Home Instead

    • Ken’s Appliance

  • Clue-Keeping

    • Equitable Bank

    • Goding Law

    • Howard’s Jewelry

    • ILC

    • The Grand Island Independent

    • Schuster Anderson

    • Shelter Insurance - Paul Hoos

    • Wave Pizza

  • Water Cooler

    • A2 Construction & Remodeling

    • Bella Design & Decor

    • Central Nebraska Bobcat

    • Copy Cat Printing

    • Credit Management Services

    • Do All Construction

    • Eakes Office Supply

    • GIX Logistics

    • GTA

    • Grand Island Abstract & Escrow

    • Hy-Vee

    • Landscaping Solutions

    • Lilienthal Cabinets

    • Live Well Counseling Center

    • Mr. Sparkles

    • Parks Veterinary

    • RCS

    • Unity Eye Centers

    • State Farm - Ty Benton

Leadership Tomorrow Impact Team

  • Chris Goplin

  • Andrea Jones

  • Jamie Parr

  • Adriana Halm

  • Kristin Johnson

  • Sam Kuhter

  • Amber Greenwalt

What’s Next?

Go Big Give! Go Big GIVE brings Hall, Hamilton, Howard, and Merrick Counties together as one community, raising money and awareness for our local nonprofits during the 24-hour online giving day on May 5th. We inspire people to give generously to nonprofits making the heartland stronger, creating a thriving community for all. You can make a donation today through May 5th!

This year, our goal is to raise $12,000! Follow us on social media @HopeHarborGI for further details.

To support Hope Harbor, visit the link here.

A shelter from the storm.