Spring Break at The Refuge Ranch

We just wrapped up Spring Break at The Refuge Ranch, and it was a wonderful, fun-filled time off from school. Each day we had activities planned and led by different staff members, plus the girls had plenty of free time to rest and reset.

Thank you to Leslie Mellenbruch for donating to the girls’ activity fund to supply games and activities.

Throughout the week, the girls went zip lining, tie-dyed t-shirts, took a painting class, learned to make homemade tortillas, and went to the driving range with our chaplain. We even had an inflatable water slide on-site at the ranch!

The most raved-about activity was a Cupcake Wars competition judged by our staff members. The girls competed in teams with their cottage mates and let their creativity run wild. One cottage decorated their cupcakes with blue flowers, inspired by The Refuge colors, and another cottage used fondant to bring their bright yellow flowers to life. One of the girls made gluten-free cupcakes for staff members with dietary restrictions, and she called her sprinkle-heavy theme “Welcome to Cupcake Land.”

On Sunday, the girls had a movie night to wind down before class started back at our UT Charter School on Monday. We are so grateful for this relaxing week that gave the girls time to express their creativity and to bond with our staff and one another.

REFUGE Talks: Liza Donnelly

Liza Donnelly is a cultural and political cartoonist who is best known for her work at The New Yorker. In her forty year career, Liza has contributed, both drawing and writing, to CNN, CBS News, The New York Times and many other publications. In 2005, she published a book called Funny Ladies that chronicles the contributions of female cartoonists at The New Yorker from the magazine’s beginnings in 1925.

Liza is also known for live drawing events. Using her tablet, she draws what she sees and uploads it straight to social media. In 2016, she was the first cartoonist to be granted entry to the Academy Awards. Since then, she has returned every year as the official Oscars cartoonist, and has live drawn many other events, including the Women’s March, presidential debates, The Emmy Awards and The Golden Globes.

When asked about the importance of cartoons as a form of journalism, Liza said, “Sometimes cartoons speak without words, so you can connect to people without words, and I think that’s pretty powerful.”

During her conversation with the girls at The Refuge Ranch, Liza shared why she started drawing, how it helped her find her voice, and how she began her career as a cartoonist.

REFUGE Talks is a series of uplifting video conference calls between great performers, doers and thinkers and the girls in our care. We hope these segments from our series will not just inspire the girls recovering at The Refuge Ranch, but will help the whole world find a place of hope and healing.