Ogden nonprofit Give Me A Chance holding annual fundraiser next month
-
- Sister Milagros Federico, DC teaches sewing at Ogden’s Give Me A Chance center.
-
- Children participate in an after-school program at Ogden’s Give Me A Chance center.
-
- A statue and shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Give Me A Chance’s Guadalupe Garden in Ogden.
OGDEN — A nonprofit organization that aims to empower women and enrich the lives of children will hold its annual fundraising event in the coming weeks.
Give Me A Chance, Inc., an Ogden-based 501(c)(3) operated by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, is opening its center’s doors at 2913 Grant Ave. on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 5 to 9 p.m. for an “Enchantment in the Summer Garden” fundraiser dinner.
While the official deadline to RSVP has passed, Sister Martha Garcia, D.C., the facility’s executive director, said that additional attendees can be accommodated.
“We’ll take anybody, anytime,” she told the Standard-Examiner.
The event will include dinner (with beef, chicken and vegetarian options), a fashion show, a live auction, orchestral music and more. Individual tickets are available for $100; table sponsor costs vary, with each package including one table for eight people.
Founded in 2010 by Sister Maria Nguyen, D.C., Give Me A Chance began with the renting of a century-old Ogden building in order to teach women sewing skills. Over the ensuing years, the organization moved into a larger building and expanded its offerings for the local community.
“We have a lot. We have the sewing program, teaching women to sew; the quilting, teaching women how to quilt. We have English as a second language. We have computer classes. We have the after-school program for children,” Garcia said of the myriad of programs available.
Clothes and other merchandise produced by the women who attend Give Me A Chance’s classes are sold at the organization’s nonprofit retail store, DeMarillac Formal Attire, located at 2620 Washington Blvd.
Other programs include music classes and a summer camp for kids. Really, though, Give Me A Chance just seeks to help people who need it.
“People will walk in or are homeless in the area…. They always are welcomed with a glass of water, or, if we have the opportunity, we provide them a sandwich or anything like that,” volunteer Bill Burbridge told the Standard-Examiner. “It’s a very welcoming environment 365 days of the year.”
The Daughters of Charity was founded in France by Vincent de Paul in the 17th century. The group’s mission of serving the poorest and most abandoned individuals in society prevails across the globe.
Per the Daughters of Charity website, there are “more than 13,000 Daughters working in 94 countries.”
“You’ll find Daughters everywhere you go, and we were founded with that purpose to serve the poor,” Garcia said. “Not just money poverty, but spiritual poverty, psychological poverty, medical poverty. We’re in every field.”
That said, Garcia — one of just four Daughters in the Beehive State — gives much of the credit for the work that’s being done at Give Me A Chance to the people who volunteer there.
“We rely on our volunteers for everything,” she said. “If we didn’t have volunteers, we wouldn’t be carrying out our programs that we have. Even with our children; all of those teachers downstairs are all volunteers. None of them are paid. We rely on them and we are grateful for them and we pray for them because they’re giving up their time, energy.”
For more information on Give Me A Chance and the “Enchantment in the Summer Garden” fundraiser, go to givemeachanceutah.org.