Every year, the Amarillo Area Foundation hosts the Panhandle Gives event that begins on the Monday before Thanksgiving and ends on Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving. This year the dates are November 25 through December 3.
During this event, local non-profit organizations are eligible to participate and all donations made to the organization through the Panhandle Gives campaign are amplified.
One of the organizations participating in the event this year is the Tralee Crisis Center in Pampa, a safe haven and beacon of hope for victims of domestic violence.
Founded in the early 1980s with the help of Altrusa International of Pampa, the Tralee Crisis Center has provided important services to eligible survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking and other violent crimes in Gray, Carson, Childress, Collingsworth, Donley, Hall, Hemphill, Roberts and Wheeler counties.
The services provided include food, clothing, shelter, financial support, regular counseling, legal assistance, support, guidance, compassion and respect with the mission of empowering society to be free of violence.
“One of the goals we have as an organization is to bring awareness that domestic violence, sexual assault and other violent crimes are an issue here,” Executive Director at Tralee Crisis Center Penny Harvey said. “I mean there’s a lot of people in the community that have no idea. Either they haven’t been involved with someone or haven’t gone through it themselves, so kind of out of sight out of mind. So we’re trying to bring more awareness by the things we do, whether that’s through the store or by fundraising. We want people to know that these are issues.”
“Our goal is to let people know that we’re here to help get them back on their feet and let them know they’re not alone.”
For the Panhandle Gives event, Tralee is reaching out to local corporations and businesses to create a partnership, where the donors can choose a tier that guarantees the donation amount and exactly what the contribution will provide.
For more information about how you can donate during the Panhandle Gives campaign starting November 25, visit their website, panhandlegives.org.
Their Christmas Tree of Blessings is also set up at their location, 310 S. Cuyler where anyone who wishes to give to someone in need can pick an ornament off the tree that gives information on the person’s age and what they need or want. A sweet donation was made just the other day by a 5-year-old girl named Daniella who decided to give the $20 bill that her grandmother had given her to go toward a child from the blessings tree.
With that $20, the receiving child will be given a new set of pajamas, a pair of houseshoes and a special requested toy.
That one gesture of kindness can leave an enormous impact on a child and their family, and the differences that the Tralee Crisis Center have made through the generosity of the community through the years are countless.
For more information about the services the Tralee Crisis Center provide, call their 24-hour hotline, 806-669-1788 or 1-800-658-2796, or visit their website, www.traleecrisiscenter.org.
Tralee Thriftique
Just last Friday, the Tralee resale store revealed its newest transformation to the public during the Lighting Up the Bricks downtown event, showcasing a soft industrial appearance with a brand new signboard that speaks volumes to the organization’s overall mission, designed by Tralee’s Financial Director, Karen McGahen.
“I have to admit most of the design is out of her brain,” Penny said. “She and I collaborated some, but I have to give her the credit for most of everything you see. That actual design on the sign was created by Karen herself and that’s our new logo.”
When asked about how she came up with the overall design of the new store, Karen’s inspiration came from a small suggestion that caused her creativity to erupt.
“It’s weird,” she laughed. “I was standing there looking and thought, I’ve got nothin’. And then the guy that was going to be working on it said why don’t we paint the ceiling black? And when he said that, immediately that soft industrial came into my head. I wanted to use all that fluting and all the wood.”
With a gorgeous new store, they knew they needed a beautiful sign to capture what the Tralee Crisis Center is all about. The first time the sign was turned on-a bright green glow illuminating the image of a butterfly intertwined with the name of the store, it caught everyone’s attention. The meaning of the new design is simple, yet powerful.
“When you see the name Tralee and you see that butterfly now-the butterfly is about rebirth. It’s about metamorphasis, it’s about change. It’s about not staying where you are. It’s about becoming who you want to be,”
“That’s why the butterfly is so important because we don’t want people to stay stagnant. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to give them the tools they need to be who they want to be and to be able to move forward. That’s why we do what we do, to help them do that. It’s not our job to do it for them because they’re capable of doing it themselves and we get the privilege of helping them feel empowered to do that. That’s what I love about Tralee. We help them through the dark times to be able to be empowered to do so much more.”
The store actually serves as a year-long fundraiser for the Tralee Crisis Center, all profits made going directly to the operation of the organization.
Tralee Thriftique is located at 110 N. Cuyler and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM.
