REFUGE Talks: Katie Kennemer with Kelly Wynne Handbags

Our latest REFUGE Talk was with Katie Kennemer, Head of Design and Production for Kelly Wynne, an Austin-based lifestyle brand specializing in quality handbags and accessories.

During her talk, Katie told the girls at The Refuge Ranch how she got her start in the fashion industry and took them behind the scenes on the Kelly Wynne design process, including showing a sneak peek of upcoming collections. Several of the girls in our care are very interested in fashion, and they even had some design suggestions for Katie to take back to her team!

Through their Beyond the Bag program, Kelly Wynne gives a portion of sales toward organizations that make a positive impact on women’s lives, including The Refuge Ranch. (Enter code REFUGERANCH at checkout and $5 of your purchase will go back to The Refuge.) Additionally, every girl who graduates from our program at The Refuge receives a handbag from Kelly Wynne to carry into her new life.

Kelly Wynne has been in our corner for a long time, and we were so honored to have a member of her team chat with the girls.

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.

Supporter Spotlight: Students Making a Difference

Lately, we have been inspired by many young supporters who feel a deep passion for our mission and have found creative ways to serve the girls in our care. Here are a few stories of students who have gone above and beyond to serve girls living at The Refuge Ranch!

Eagle Scout Builds Benches for The Refuge

Eagle Scout Coley Cowden recently built settles—benches that easily convert into picnic tables—for The Refuge Ranch as part of his Eagle Scout Service project. In his classes at Regents School of Austin, Coley and his classmates learned about settles while studying the pioneers, and Coley had seen the practical piece of furniture in action at the nature sanctuary where he often goes for school activities and scout meetings. He thought they would be a wonderful way for girls to be able to enjoy outdoor spaces all over the fifty-acre Refuge Ranch.

After Coley contacted us with the idea, he drafted plans, sought approval from his scoutmaster, started fundraising for the project, and rallied fellow scouts to assist with building and welding. He painted the settles bright turquoise to match the Adirondak chairs that sit on our cottage porches, built and donated by Girl Scout Liliana Mechura in 2018 for her Silver Award project.

Through his fundraising, Coley was able to provide us with six beautiful settles as well as a generous monetary donation. We are grateful to Coley and his parents, Heidi and Duke, for their commitment to supporting The Refuge!

Legacy Church Student Ministry

The Legacy Church Student Ministry recently donated bundles of towels, Tupperware, hangers, and laundry detergent for the cottages at The Refuge Ranch. “Instead of just hearing or learning about this, I’m actually able to do something by giving things to the girls,” said one of the students who helped drop off donations.

The Legacy Church Student Ministry, made up of 6th through 12th grade students, has faithfully supported our mission for a few years through painting Dove Tiles and praying often for the girls in our care.

Last year, they donated eleven pairs of riding boots for the Equine program at The Refuge. They raised the money for the boots through their student-run drink and snack shop for their Tuesday night gatherings. Every month, the profit from selling drinks and snacks to fellow students goes to the organizations their ministry supports. Last February, they decided to designate the funds to purchase a specific item from our In-Kind Needs list, and the students settled on riding boots. They were so eager to support our Equine program, that they ended up raising four times their monthly average, allowing them to purchase eleven brand new pairs of boots for girls at The Refuge Ranch!

Thank you to the staff and volunteers at Legacy Church, including Reyn Harpole and Jamie Lynn, for helping foster a passion for our mission among your students. We are grateful for your sustained support over the years!

Regents Students Organize Collection Drive

A class of 10th graders from Regents School of Austin recently organized a socially distanced collection drive in the school’s Travis County neighborhood. They stapled information about The Refuge to paper bags, with lists of our needed items and instructions on when they would pick up donations from front porches, and distributed them throughout the neighborhood.

On Monday, the students ventured back out to collect the donations and gathered enough cleaning supplies and paper products to fill a large truck and two SUVs. The students estimated that they walked over four miles around the neighborhood collecting the bags of goods. They listened raptly as one of our staff members spoke about our work at The Refuge and the opportunity we have to help girls their own age find independence and reclaim their lives.

We were fortunate to have volunteers from The Lakeway Church present to help us pick up and deliver these donations to The Refuge Ranch. A special thank you to Amy Lauer and Jennifer Dierking for helping coordinate this drive.

Thank you to all of these students for going the extra mile—or four—to serve the girls in our care. It is encouraging to see how you are stirred to action to serve your peers. Our work would not be possible without your passion and prayers!

HOPE EMPORIUM: A ROUND UP OF INSPIRATION

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL!

WEATHER CAT: A meteorologist’s cat bombed his at-home forecast. Now Betty is his beloved co-host.

“Meteorologist Jeff Lyons set up a green screen in his living room and has been giving weather forecasts from home during the lockdown. And though he usually broadcasts alone, he's gotten a new partner to share the weather with—his cat, Betty.”

SIDEWALK ADVENTURE: Mom Makes Quarantine Life Fun For Her Kids With Interactive Chalk Art

This mom took simple sidewalk chalk to the next level! What kind of scene would you create?

STEP OUTSIDE: National Parks educational resources for kids

These resources for kids will give your whole family something to look forward to! Watch educational videos and download activities you can do with the whole family.

LEARNING WITHOUT LIMITS: School districts are transforming buses into wifi hotspots for students without internet

School districts across the country, including here in Austin, TX, are taking internet straight to students so they can continue to engage with their teachers virtually!

SOME GOOD NEWS with John Krasinski Ep 5. Potluck with Guy Fieri, Martha Stewart, David Chang, and Stanley Tucci

We can’t get enough of Some Good News! In this episode, John shares art from fans of his show and hosts a virtual potluck with some of his friends.

REFUGE TALKS: Bringing hope and healing straight to the girls at The Refuge

If you haven’t explored the rest of our blog, take a look at our REFUGE Talks, a series of uplifting video conference calls between great performers, doers and thinkers and the girls in our care!

REFUGE Talks: Simidele Adeagbo

Photo Courtesy of Getty Sport

What happens when your big dream is dashed? Just for example, say your goal in life was to participate in the Summer Olympics, but you don’t ultimately qualify to represent your nation at the upcoming games -- what do you do? Do you just let the dream die, then tuck your medals into your scrapbook with your junior prom photos?

If you are Simidele Adeagbo you learn a new sport in 100 days so you can compete in the Winter Olympics. And the sport she chose, the skeleton, involves jumping onto a small bobsled, then barreling face down, head-first through an ice chute down a mountain side at 80-100 miles per hour. In 2018, Simidele made Olympic history at the Winter Games, as the first Nigerian Winter Olympian, and the first African and black woman to compete in skeleton at the Olympics.

She is also our next guest speaker on REFUGE Talks!

During her chat with the girls, Simidele shared that first place isn't always the "first" that matters. Sometimes, the first that matters most is the one that blazes a trail for others.

Watch Episode 5 of REFUGE Talks!

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.