The inaugural year of The Cordillera Cares mission has been incredibly successful. Charlie Hill announced the initiative in July with a YouTube video highlighting the three organizations that Cordillera Cares would support in 2022: Hill Country Family Services, Boerne Blaze and Kendall County Sheriff’s Foundation. The committee, made up of Brianna Botine, Victoria DeRocher, Amy Schoemaker and Kathi Spink, coordinate the different projects and organize our Cordillera Ranch team.
From July through December, there were five opportunities for employees to volunteer their time. We are proud to announce that more than 50 employees stepped up to the challenge and their excitement to get involved has been contagious!
Our first mission was to support Hill County Family Services (www.HCFSTX.org) and their BISD Back to School Hygiene Drive. HCFS works to foster mental and physical wellness, stability and independence for individuals and families who are in crisis in Kendall County.
The Hygiene Drive supplied full-sized soap, toothpaste and other necessities so these students can head to school feeling fresh and clean, along with a few sweet treats all supplied in a reusable lunch bag. Cordillera Ranch and Cordillera Cares teamed up to provide 60 bags — 10 over goal! Some staff donated items while other team members came together to shop for supplies and stuff the bags.
This summer, the Cordillera Cares project supported Boerne Blaze, the local chapter of Special Olympics Texas. Boerne Blaze is an active group of more than 50 athletes with intellectual challenges ranging in age from 6 to 45. Cordillera Cares volunteers assisted at their annual kick-off event in July and their End-of-Season Swim Party at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch. We had 14 volunteers and hosted 75 guests at the Cordillera Ranch pool. The Cordillera Cares group did a fantastic job in helping to set up and breakdown the event. The Blaze families were blown away by the kindness of the team and look forward to many more events partnered with Cordillera Cares!
In September, Cordillera Cares partnered with Joe and Maureen Cheben in the Families of Cordillera Ranch Adopt-a-Highway program to pick up trash along Highway 46. We had 11 volunteers and were able to collect 21 bags of trash and a lot of loose construction material.
We also partnered with the Hill Country Family Services to volunteer at their 7th Annual Outdrive Hunger Golf Tournament. The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch was the Golf Course Sponsor and we had eight volunteers to help work different holes on the course.
Our final mission was to partner with the Kendall County Sherriff’s Office Foundation Blue Santa Program. This annual event helps the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office provide Christmas presents for children in need throughout Kendall County. We met with the Sheriff’s Foundation and determined the best way we could help would be to donate stockings to every child that signed up for Blue Santa. Each stocking was gender specific and broken up by age group from 0-5, 6-10 and 11 and older. The goal was to make each stocking something the kids would be really excited about and included toys, something to read, stocking caps, candy and so much more!
The Blue Santa mission was introduced to The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch members and Cordillera Ranch community. On our kick-off night at the Gold Rush Ugly Sweater event, we asked members to help sponsor stockings for $25 apiece. Our goal was to get 400 stockings sponsored. The response was overwhelming as we had over 500 sponsored stockings by the end of the event!
The next step was to get the stockings stuffed! Employees, members and residents selected days and times to come stuff in the “Santa’s Workshop.” The Christmas spirit was truly alive as employees were able to hear the laughter and love coming from the workshop.
The final step to Blue Santa was to help the Kendall County Sheriff’s Foundation by handing out the stockings at their Blue Santa event on Saturday, December 17.
The Cordillera Cares committee is excited to continue to support these three organizations through 2023 and see all the new ways we can give back to our incredible community.
Brianna Botine is the Director of Membership and Lodging at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch. She can be reached at bbotine@cordilleraranch.com and 830.336.9177.
