Leaders & Legends Saluted, a Child’s Story Told and a Heavenly Auction Brought Mission of Yahweh its Biggest Gala Evening Ever!

Leaders & Legends Saluted, a Child’s Story Told and a Heavenly Auction Brought Mission of Yahweh its Biggest Gala Evening Ever!

The third annual Mission of Yahweh Leaders & Legends Gala was sweet, poignant, heartfelt and rewarding, as $650,000 was raised, making this night their most successful event in its history!

Leading the charge were Chairs Leila Perrin, Beth Wolff, and Cynthia Wolff. Serving as Honorary Chairs were Christine Johnson and Jody Merritt, chairpersons of last year’s gala. Honored for their outstanding charitable endeavors and lifetime of work were Nichole and Benny Agosto, Jr., Rose S. Cullen, Sidney Faust and Winell Herron. The podcast duo of former Channel 2 weatherman Frank Billingsley and Channel 8’s Ernie Manouse handled the emcee duties with great style and plenty of humor.

The program began by introducing the aforementioned honorees, whose award acceptances were superbly filmed by Chris Swanson, of Firefox Video, and shown on the state-of-the-art monitors to great applause. Each spoke of their passions for the Mission and their gratitude of being included with the others receiving accolades. Helen Gay, daughter of the Mission’s founder, told a heartwarming story of Carter, a non-verbal young boy at the Mission who was helped by the organization’s programs and how his life was changed in extraordinary ways. Her moving speech held the audience captive and she finished by announcing that Carter is thriving, leading to a standing ovation and a room filled with tear-stained faces.

Auctioneer extraordinaire Johnny “Bravo” Holloway took the stage to begin the appeal. Within a few short minutes, more than $108,000 had been raised to support the charity’s efforts to provide for those in its care. The live auction featured many sought-after items, including a Texans football opportunity, which is only offered twice a year by the team’s office. Texans representative Joanna Marks was brought to the stage to discuss the opportunity for two people to travel on the Texans’ plane with the team, ride their bus, walk the sidelines of the field before the game, and share box seats with the owners, Texans management, and invited dignitaries. The winners of this once-in-a-lifetime auction item were the popular husband and wife team of Danny & Robin Klaes! Several other excellent live auction bid opportunities were available, including a stay in a luxurious home in Durango, Colorado, which went to Benny & Nichole Agosto, Jr.; a pair of amethyst and gold earrings donated by Nini Jewels, won by Larry Martin; a stay in a lavish Puerto Vallarta residence; and more.

Post-dinner delight featured The Songwriters in the Round, a trio of Grammy-winning songwriters who have penned hit songs for many of Country-Western music’s biggest acts, including Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Hank Williams and many more! With guitars in hand, they played their hits and told stories of how the songs came to life!

A beautiful event is never done alone. Much gratitude is due to the event production team of Francisco + Co., the décor and floral team at Let It Fly, and Elsie Smith Design for their creation of the invitation and program and the Auction team of Jerre Williams and Deborah Laws. Kudos and kind words were spoken throughout the evening about the glorious Warner Roberts, who helped raise the funds to build the first Mission dormitory many decades ago and continues to lend her love and support to them on a daily basis.

The Mission is in the midst of opening new dorms to accommodate more families.  Women and children arrive at the doors with nothing but the clothes on their backs.  The programs give them the tools to rebuild their lives and live independently. For more information on the Mission of Yahweh, to take a tour of the campus, or support their work, visit their website at Mission of Yahweh or contact them at 713.466.4785.

In the Social Scene (not previously mentioned):  Samantha & David Kennedy, Warner Roberts, Cliff & Angie Roberts, Larry Martin, Board Chair Kari Work, Executive Director Glenda Haynes, John Work, Robin and Danny Klaes, Janelle and Greg Reid, Cora Sue Mach, Elsie & Les Eckert, Judi McGee, Ginger Blanton, Philamena Baird, Heidi & Barry Turney, Jody Merritt, Steve Spencer, Saula Valente, Edna Meyer-Nelson, Kirk Kveton, Daniel Irion, Alicia Smith, Brigitte Kalai, Farida Abjani, Hallie Vanderhider and Bobby Dees, Lesha and Tom Elsenbrook, Heidi Rockecharlie, Jane-Page Crump, Mark Haas and Monica Hartland, Lori and Todd King, Susan and Henri Soussan, Nini Hale, Sylvia Forsythe, Pam and Ron Sterlekar, Regina Rogers, Joanna Marks, Leisa Holland-Nelson Bowman, Sandra Porter, Marilu Garza, Doug Herron, Lara Bell, Raquel Lewis, Charity Yarborough Cox, Suzanne Ebrahimi, Mary Jo Antone, Michael Broderick, Angela Hernandez, Ghada Ali, Lara and James Bany, Nicole and Peter Psillides