Bates Mission

🎤 Come on down!

One of the games we actually play with the young adults we serve is our own version of The Price Is Right, guessing the cost of everyday items and then figuring out how to stretch those dollars further.

Laundry detergent. Hygiene basics. Kitchen essentials.
(Yes, it all adds up faster than you think.)

Impact Partners help fund both the essentials and the life-skills moments that make those essentials last longer. Small monthly gifts support confidence, stability, and smarter spending all year long.

No pressure. Cancel anytime.
Big impact.

🔗 https://batesmission.org/donate

Just a friendly heads up — early bird pricing for Christmas in July Purse Bingo ends in two days. 🎄

Tickets are $50 through June 17. After that, they go up to $60, and sales close altogether on June 24. If you've been thinking about it, now's the time.

July 9 | 6–9pm | Dome Civic & Convention Center, Borger, TX

Designer purse bingo, dinner and dessert, a silent auction, and on-site shopping — all benefiting young adults in the Texas Panhandle. Come spend a night with your people.

🎟️ https://batesmission.org/product/christmas-in-july-tickets/

In the early days of Bates Mission, Whitney didn't drive her usual car to the Panhandle. She drove a box truck stuffed with supplies and a lot of hope.

Five years later, we're reflecting on what that scrappy season built in us and why we think it always will. Our latest blog is up at the link below.

https://batesmission.org/what-a-box-truck-teaches-you-that-a-spreadsheet-never-could/

Can't make it to Borger on July 9? There's still a way to be part of Christmas in July in Purse Bingo.

We're currently accepting donations for our silent auction — think gift baskets, experiences, products, gift cards, or anything you'd love to bid on yourself. If you have something to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.

And if donating an item isn't in the cards, a financial gift goes directly toward making the event possible — and toward the young adults we serve in the Texas Panhandle.

It doesn't take a ticket to make a difference. 💛

📩 https://batesmission.org/christmas-in-july/

June is National Reunification Month — a time set aside to acknowledge one of the core goals of the foster care system: helping families heal and come back together.

But for many, that doesn't happen. In 2024, fewer than half of young people who exited foster care were reunified with their families. More than 15,000 aged out without a permanent family to return to.

What does that look like? It looks like turning 18 with a trash bag of belongings and a list of resources you're not sure how to use. No parent to call when something goes wrong. No one to co-sign your first apartment. No family dinner to come home to on a holiday.

That's the gap we try to help fill.

Christmas in July is coming . . . and we're bringing it to the Texas Panhandle. 🎄

Join us on July 9th at the Dome Civic & Convention Center in Borger, TX for a night of bingo (with designer purse prizes), dinner, dessert, a silent auction, and on-site shopping. Girls' night out energy. Dressed up. Done right.

Tickets are on sale now at the early bird price of $50 — but only through June 17. After that, they go up to $60, and sales close June 24.

Your ticket includes a bingo booklet, dinner and dessert, access to the silent auction, and on-site shopping from some fun local vendors. Extra bingo sheets available at the door — or earn a free one by bringing three new, unopened hygiene items.

Every ticket supports the young adults we serve across Texas. Come for the purses. Stay for the cause.

🎟️ https://batesmission.org/christmas-in-july/

🚨 Year 5 Flashback: The Networking Hustle 🚨

As we continue our countdown to August, we’re looking back at the season when Bates Mission was powered by coffee meetings, chamber breakfasts, and a whole lot of explaining.

Before there were programs, there were conversations.

There were early mornings with name tags and handshakes.
There were “So what exactly do you do?” questions.
There were moments of trying to fit a big vision into a two-minute introduction.

We talked about young adults aging out of foster care — and why stability, support, and community matter more than people realize.

We repeated the mission again.
And again.
And again.

Some conversations led nowhere.
Some turned into partnerships.
Some became the first people who said, “We believe in this.”

It wasn’t flashy. But it was foundational.

Looking back, those rooms full of small talk and big hope helped build everything that came next. 💙

Honoring those who gave everything so the rest of us could have a future worth building. 🇺🇸

Wishing you a meaningful Memorial Day.

When Sheila's Supply Closet started, it looked like themed deliveries — laundry supplies one month, hygiene products the next — shipped out to the young adults we serve.

That was the beginning. Over the last few years, something shifted.

We've been able to set up actual supply closets inside some of the supervised independent living (SIL) facilities we partner with stocked and ready, so the young adults living there have access to what they need without having to ask, wait, or go without.

And then something else shifted too.

Now, the SILs call us. When they're running low on something specific, when a young adult is moving into their very first space and needs everything, we get a call, we place an order, and we ship it directly to them. Sometimes across the state.

That's not how it started. That's what five years of showing up builds.

A supply closet isn't a dramatic intervention. But having what you need, when you need it, in a space that's starting to feel like yours? That matters more than it sounds. 💙