Dish-Houston

One of DISH'S favorite musical duos has released a holiday song and they are giving 100% of the proceeds to DISH'S favorite charities Star of Hope. Lainey Balagia and Brandt Croucher's Christmas EP, A THRILL OF HOPE, is now available for download on the website. Once again we stress...ALL (aka, 100%) of the proceeds from the sale of this EP will be given to Star of Hope to help provide Christmas dinner for those who would otherwise go without. And here is the best part....They are asking you to pay what you can, but please consider a donation of $10 or more if you are able. Thank you so much.

We hope you have as much fun listening to these tracks as we had creating them!!

CLICK HERE to make someone's Christmas meal happen...and to make your holiday that much more enjoyable!

Hank Rush, Star of Hope President and CEO, has announced that the Mission’s SUMMER OF HOPE initiative continues with a “Hot Weather Alert” because of the extreme heat. The Mission’s HOPE-IN-ACTION van departed the Men’s Center at 8:45 AM this morning loaded with bottled water. Multiple times a week the outreach van visits areas frequented by homeless men and women, distributing water and encouraging the street homeless to seek shelter at the Star of Hope.

Star of Hope has received 38.000 bottles of water donated by the I Am Waters Foundation. I Am Waters foundation was created by Houstonian Elena Davis to enrich the lives of America’s homeless by providing a continuous source of fresh, clean bottled water, delivered with a daily, inspirational message of hope, love and a sense of belonging to the greater community. Star of Hope expects to distribute about 1,500 bottles of water a week to shelter clients and street homeless.

With daytime temperatures predicted to surpass 100 degrees this weekend, the downtown Men’s Development Center and the Women and Family Emergency Shelter, both over capacity with record numbers, are encouraging all resident guests to stay inside. The two shelters have set up areas offering cold water to anyone requesting it.

In addition, the Mission has put out a call for financial assistance.

“Traditionally the summer time is when our population increases and our donations decrease. We can use some immediate help to insure that this will be a SUMMER OF HOPE for Houston’s suffering homeless,” said Rush.

Typically, Star of Hope, a faith based mission, offers food, shelter, education, spiritual direction and structured recovery programs to about 1,150 homeless men, women, and children each day. 

Summer is usually a time of being carefree, relaxed, taking vacations, not having a care in the world. That is not reality for a lot of people. Homelessness is still a very real problem in Summer, especially in Houston. There are news stories everywhere how Houston is booming with jobs so people will come down with their families to look for work and end up in the shelter because the jobs aren't the right ones or have been filled because there are hundreds applying for the same one job. The kids are out of school so they are eating more meals at the shelter daily than during the school year.

At the Star of Hope's Women and Family Center one evening this week there were 106 women and children sleeping on pallets on the floor because the 296 beds have been filled for 3 years. Yes, the homeless shelter has been over capacity for over 3 years.
When these folks wake up they don't have anything. That is where you come in.

Help make this a Summer of Hope for those who need just a little hope. Start them off right with a toothbrush, soap, a hair brush, toothpaste. All of these things we take for granted they don't have everyday.

You can help, and it doesn't take much. A small financial donation, a food donation or a goods donation goes a very long way in the world of someone who doesn't have anything. Can you imagine not even having a toothbrush?

Give Hope today...CLICK HERE to make a positive difference in someone's life.

That's a whole lot of turkey! And it's a HUGE, wonderful gift for the Houston Food Bank thanks to Randalls! In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Randalls Food Markets donated 1,500 turkeys to the Houston Food Bank for distribution via 15 of their local hunger relief member agencies to families at risk for hunger in our community.  These turkeys are the equivalent to approximately 15,000 pounds of turkey, which is more than 28,000 protein-rich servings!!

Pictured:  Randalls Food Markets President Paul McTavish (left) and Houston Food Bank President/CEO Brian Greene. 

Volunteers from Open Door Mission and McTavish and Greene helped load the donated turkeys into agency vehicles.

DISHIES, Here's why we need to support organisations like Houston Food Bank and Star of Hope Mission...

Hunger Statistics: 

                • 865,000 unique individuals require assistance from HFB annually

• Nearly 900,000 people live in poverty in our 18-county area (15% of the population)

• One in four children in Harris County lives at or below poverty level

• 137,000 different people are fed each week with the help of Houston Food Bank.

• 47% of the hungry in Southeast Texas are children

• 94% of individuals needing food assistance are not homeless

• Nearly half of households in need have at least one working adult

CLICK HERE to help Houston Food Bank  Star of Hope Mission

OH DISHIES! How this pleases the DISH heart! Starting today, August 1stm Houston-based Sun & Ski Sports will mark the sale of its 50,000^th pair of TOMS shoes!  And as you can imagine, there is a HUGE celebration that goes along with it! It's a two-week Back To School Shoe Drive to benefit children at Star of Hope topped off by an August 13th TOMS Shoes Custom Paint Event.  Shoe painting commissions will support promising young artists. As you know, TOMS One for One Movement  matches each shoe purchases with a new pair of shoes for children in developing countries. This has been the basis of what TOM'S is all about.

The CEO of Sun & Ski Sports explains how this particular event is Double Good!!

“This milestone sale directly correlates to 50,000 pairs of TOMS shoes given to children globally through Sun & Ski since the company began carrying the TOMS brand two years ago,” said Barry Goldware, CEO of Sun & Ski Sports, TOMS #1 seller in Texas. 

“During the shoe drive, every customer who brings in a pair of gently worn shoes will receive a Sun & Ski Sports certificate for $5 off a new pair of TOMS shoes.  Shoes will be donated to needy children both locally and globally through the efforts of Sun & Ski and TOMS -- it’s one for one X (times) two, when donors buy a new pair of TOMS as well,” he explained. 

There is always a fun way to bring the community together on top of giving back on August 13th, if you want to decorate your TOM'S for $10 per pair, an artist will paint a custom design on your shoes for you!  The artists, who will receive 100 percent of their painting fees, can paint commissions on the shoe canvas and the paints are water resistant. You will have ONE of a kind TOM'S!

Additionally the collection boxes for gently, pre-owned (or new if you can) shoes appropriate for children to wear to school will be at all five Houston-area Sun & Ski Sports stores: 6100 Westheimer, Memorial City Mall, Katy Mills Mall, 5503 FM 1960 West and 1355 Bay Area Boulevard.

TOMS was founded in 2006 when American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS, which stands for Tomorrows. Mycoskie returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers.  Today the company has donated more than one million shoes to barefoot children to help prevent soil-transmitted diseases and the long-term physical and cognitive harm they cause; prevent feet from getting cuts and sores that are dangerous if they become infected; and allow children to attend school because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don't go to school, they don't receive an education and don't have the opportunity to realize their potential.

Sun & Ski Sports has a longstanding relationship with Star of Hope, having collected more than over 10 tons of clothing in 20+ years to provide warmth to Houston’s homeless, according to Marilyn Fountain, Star of Hope Community Relations.  Through Emergency Shelters and Transitional Living Centers, Star of Hope touches the lives of more than 7,000 different homeless people each year, including more than 1,600 children.  Star of Hope ministers to approximately 1,000 men, women and children every day with food, clothing, shelter, Christian care and structured recovery programs. Sun & Ski Sports outfits enthusiasts who ski, run, hike and bike around the world.  The store’s e-commerce and store addresses are available at  www.sunandski.com.