The Bridge Leadership Team hopes this letter finds your year off to a blessed start and you were able to enjoy some memory making experiences with your family at Christmas! Please read on to hear about all the growth we have had in 2021 and where we are heading this new year, and in the years to come!
In 2017, I found myself at a crossroads. Since starting the nonprofit in 2006, God had blessed us with being able to serve thousands through our previous food pantry, monthly community outreaches (Adopt A Block and Bridge Café), our mobile clothing closet, partnerships with local elementary schools to bring in produce for produce stands for their students, the Bridge Christmas Outreach and MANY partnerships with local churches, businesses, schools, organizations, and individuals. I spent my days immersed in all these different areas serving our local community. Then, a realization hit me. My kids were growing up and I would soon have one (at the time) starting high school. I realized how short my time was with her and the other two kids still at home. As much as I LOVED serving others, I was not putting my kids first. Through mentoring, guidance, and counsel, I made the VERY hard decision to put the vision of The Bridge on pause…for a season. I did not know how long I would endure that season, or if I would indeed get to pick this vision back up. I found myself on the struggle bus with trying to figure out who I was, what my purpose was in life, and did it look like the past or was there something new on the horizon? A LOT of time was spent talking to God, praying about what was next, and much change for our family.
Fast forward to early 2021 and a coffee date I had with a mom I had met. What was going to be a short get-to-know-you meeting turned into a long afternoon that lingered over coffee and sharing mutual visions. Out of that meeting, our Homegrown (Habitat and Outdoor Minded Education) Nature School was birthed in early spring 2021. We had thought we might have 10 students that first session where they would find themselves engaged in the outdoors all day learning how to build a garden from the ground up, nature exploration, animal encounters, a time of Ohana, building projects and so much more! We were elated that when we started our pioneer session 27 kids had signed up to join us! The following Summer Camp we had 31 students. Fall session found us expanding from one day to two days and brought 59 students to learn all about the outdoor, sustainability, animals and more! Now, a few short weeks before our spring 2022 session starts, we already have over EIGHTY students pre-registered and a staff of 15! We are very thankful for our small classroom and being able to use our current venue of Honor Equestrian right here in Wylie, but we are BUSTING AT THE SEAMS.
While I was on vacation with my amazing kiddos over Christmas, God gave me the word of Abundance. He had already blown us away at our 14th annual Bridge Christmas Outreach where food was in abundance for both our guests and volunteers through many community partners, donations were given exceeding $80,000 in value to help serve approximately 825 guests through our BCO, After Party and After Party2. The only area we didn’t have abundance in were volunteers which impacted how well we could serve our guests during the outreach.
God also told me to start praying the prayer of Jabez daily…and that He wanted to expand our territory. (Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. I Chronicle 4:10.
While Homegrown is the first step and one where we could start with what we had, the overall vision is to have a larger property where we can build up a sustainable working farm community where we also teach others how to do the same. The expanse of land would offer an opportunity for likeminded people to live in smaller footprint homes and bring the giftings that they own to add to making this dream come alive. As we teach our current Homegrown students, we would grow our own food, our animals’ food, and teach how to preserve the harvest. The expanded vision would have classrooms for our current outdoor nature school, an auditorium for use (and rent), indoor/outdoor arenas and homes for the animals, a teaching kitchen, and gardens galore. We will also be restoring the food pantry we once had as well as a farm store to sell the things gathered/made from the farm.
We have spent some time researching property and have found a 42-acre property in Collin County that we would like to make an offer on as soon as possible. To do that, we have been advised to come up with at least half of the asking price before requesting bank funding, which would be $450,000…or fund the whole amount. We are asking each person reading this letter to pray about the vision we are wanting to bring to this area of a sustainable working farm community that will be used to educate kids and adults in the ways of homesteading and sustainable living as well as giving a place for kids to be outdoor and learn about nature.
If you would consider making a tax-deductible donation towards this down payment, we would be ever so grateful. God has spoken to me that this is to be a year of abundance and that I am to pray the prayer of Jabez, as mentioned. I know that it will take a movement by Him to make this dream of expanding our territory to come alive in the near future. If you are called to be a part of that movement, please send your donation through one of the following ways:
1570 Bozman Rd., Wylie, TX 75098
Finally, if this is something that speaks to your heart, please pray about it, and let us know if you want to be a part of building up this community.
Thank you so much for reading this far. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me via email, text, or phone call. I am always open to meeting in person over coffee and have a verbal, passionate conversation about this dream!
Blessings,
Ginger Shocklee
In 2017, I found myself at a crossroads. Since starting the nonprofit in 2006, God had blessed us with being able to serve thousands through our previous food pantry, monthly community outreaches (Adopt A Block and Bridge Café), our mobile clothing closet, partnerships with local elementary schools to bring in produce for produce stands for their students, the Bridge Christmas Outreach and MANY partnerships with local churches, businesses, schools, organizations, and individuals. I spent my days immersed in all these different areas serving our local community. Then, a realization hit me. My kids were growing up and I would soon have one (at the time) starting high school. I realized how short my time was with her and the other two kids still at home. As much as I LOVED serving others, I was not putting my kids first. Through mentoring, guidance, and counsel, I made the VERY hard decision to put the vision of The Bridge on pause…for a season. I did not know how long I would endure that season, or if I would indeed get to pick this vision back up. I found myself on the struggle bus with trying to figure out who I was, what my purpose was in life, and did it look like the past or was there something new on the horizon? A LOT of time was spent talking to God, praying about what was next, and much change for our family.
Fast forward to early 2021 and a coffee date I had with a mom I had met. What was going to be a short get-to-know-you meeting turned into a long afternoon that lingered over coffee and sharing mutual visions. Out of that meeting, our Homegrown (Habitat and Outdoor Minded Education) Nature School was birthed in early spring 2021. We had thought we might have 10 students that first session where they would find themselves engaged in the outdoors all day learning how to build a garden from the ground up, nature exploration, animal encounters, a time of Ohana, building projects and so much more! We were elated that when we started our pioneer session 27 kids had signed up to join us! The following Summer Camp we had 31 students. Fall session found us expanding from one day to two days and brought 59 students to learn all about the outdoor, sustainability, animals and more! Now, a few short weeks before our spring 2022 session starts, we already have over EIGHTY students pre-registered and a staff of 15! We are very thankful for our small classroom and being able to use our current venue of Honor Equestrian right here in Wylie, but we are BUSTING AT THE SEAMS.
While I was on vacation with my amazing kiddos over Christmas, God gave me the word of Abundance. He had already blown us away at our 14th annual Bridge Christmas Outreach where food was in abundance for both our guests and volunteers through many community partners, donations were given exceeding $80,000 in value to help serve approximately 825 guests through our BCO, After Party and After Party2. The only area we didn’t have abundance in were volunteers which impacted how well we could serve our guests during the outreach.
God also told me to start praying the prayer of Jabez daily…and that He wanted to expand our territory. (Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. I Chronicle 4:10.
While Homegrown is the first step and one where we could start with what we had, the overall vision is to have a larger property where we can build up a sustainable working farm community where we also teach others how to do the same. The expanse of land would offer an opportunity for likeminded people to live in smaller footprint homes and bring the giftings that they own to add to making this dream come alive. As we teach our current Homegrown students, we would grow our own food, our animals’ food, and teach how to preserve the harvest. The expanded vision would have classrooms for our current outdoor nature school, an auditorium for use (and rent), indoor/outdoor arenas and homes for the animals, a teaching kitchen, and gardens galore. We will also be restoring the food pantry we once had as well as a farm store to sell the things gathered/made from the farm.
We have spent some time researching property and have found a 42-acre property in Collin County that we would like to make an offer on as soon as possible. To do that, we have been advised to come up with at least half of the asking price before requesting bank funding, which would be $450,000…or fund the whole amount. We are asking each person reading this letter to pray about the vision we are wanting to bring to this area of a sustainable working farm community that will be used to educate kids and adults in the ways of homesteading and sustainable living as well as giving a place for kids to be outdoor and learn about nature.
If you would consider making a tax-deductible donation towards this down payment, we would be ever so grateful. God has spoken to me that this is to be a year of abundance and that I am to pray the prayer of Jabez, as mentioned. I know that it will take a movement by Him to make this dream of expanding our territory to come alive in the near future. If you are called to be a part of that movement, please send your donation through one of the following ways:
- Paypal: [email protected]
- Website: www.thebridgeconnections.org
- Mail a check to:
1570 Bozman Rd., Wylie, TX 75098
Finally, if this is something that speaks to your heart, please pray about it, and let us know if you want to be a part of building up this community.
Thank you so much for reading this far. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me via email, text, or phone call. I am always open to meeting in person over coffee and have a verbal, passionate conversation about this dream!
Blessings,
Ginger Shocklee
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