‘Substantial gift’ from Skyeward Bound Ranch puts event total near $20,000; money will help build new kitchen, classroom near Nopalera

CHECK PRESENTATION | The Rev. Dawson B. Taylor, executive minister of Cathedral of Hope, accepts a check from Jimmy Pockrus and Dalace-Skye Duvall of Skyeward Bound Ranch at the “Prawns And Praise” fundraising event for the Little Blue Schools program in Reynosa, Mexico. The money is the first gift of a multi-year commitment and will go toward building a kitchen and several school classrooms. (Phoebe Sexton/Cathedral of Hope)

FROM STAFF REPORTS
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Officials with Cathedral of Hope of the United Church of Christ announced this week that the church raised nearly $20,000 with it’s recent “Prawns and Praise” benefit concert for CoH’s Little Blue Schools mission project in Reynosa, Mexico.

The total includes what church leaders called “a substantial gift” from Skyeward Bound Ranch, a non-profit charitable organization for special needs and terminally ill children.

The money will be used to build a new kitchen and a school classroom in the Nopalera area of Reynosa, a community of poor residents living along a drainage canal where there is no running water or electricity, church officials said.

CoH pastor the Rev. Jo Hudson said CoH volunteers began working on the Reynosa mission efforts 10 years ago, starting by building a 13×20-foot, one-room, tin-roofed building to serve as a school and community center. Since then, 10 additional building projects, such as restroom facilities and meeting rooms, have been completed in Reynosa.

The mission work in Reynosa is now referred to as “The Little Blue Schools” project and is administered by the CoH Miracles in Mission Ministry.

“We’re demonstrating how a community can come together, pooling resources and working side-by-side with folks of very different backgrounds, understandings and faith beliefs,” said Hudson. “We’re out to show Cathedral of Hope’s profound belief that Christianity is a faith of extravagant grace, radical inclusion and relentless compassion.”

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 30, 2011.