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The Burke Rally

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Burke Center for Youth Fundraiser – “An Evening in the Vineyard” – March 2nd

As your calendar for 2009 fills up, make sure Monday March 2nd is circled -- a date not to be missed, as anyone who attended last year’s “Evening in the Vineyard” can tell you. The Mandola Estate Winery and Trattoria Lisina have once again graciously agreed to act as hosts. Last year, the event raised much needed funds for the Burke Center for Youth which is located on TX-150 between Driftwood and Dripping Springs. The Center, in existence since 1973, is a 501(c)3 organization, partially funded by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, but also relying heavily on charitable donations. Routine maintenance and updating its 35-year-old buildings to accommodate constantly changing state-mandated requirements are costly. Two buildings stand unused. If remodeled, they could provide facilities for vocational training. The addition of two dormitories would give more needy boys a fresh start to life. The Burke Center’s mission is to help children in crisis build self-respect, self-reliance, and self-esteem, and more hopeful futures. The boys assigned to the Pathfinders Residential Treatment Program are aged from 11 to 17. They are in their present situation because of abuse and neglect. It is at the Burke Center, with its emphasis on structure, discipline, and supportive loving care, that they come to realize that they are meaningful human beings and that people care about them. It is not an easy program, lasting from one to two years, living a Spartan existence, supervised at all times. Formal education is provided by a University of Texas Charter School. Therapy sessions are given individually and in groups. Community-led chapel services are held each Thursday evening. There are art, music, and horsemanship programs. Much time is spent outdoors, tending the garden and caring for animals. This year the boys have become 4-H Club members and are showing goats with the help of Dripping Springs Ag Boosters and 4-H clubs. Frequent camping trips are taken as part of mandatory membership in Boy Scout Troop 111. The Boy Scout Program provides the boys with essential skills and outlets for personal development in subjects that interest them. This year there is a new troop leader, one of the camp counselors, a hardened Iraqi-War veteran. At his first award ceremony last July, he confessed to initial skepticism about the value of scouting. Now he agrees with the movement’s founder, Lord Baden-Powell, that it builds character through discipline. That day was an exciting one for the boys, proudly wearing new uniforms purchased with money they raised themselves running a carwash. These boys deserve all the support the local community can give them. Already much is done, including an outpouring of generosity by local churches and civic organizations at Christmastime. In the summer, the Burke Rally is an important fundraiser. Now, with the sudden downturn in the economy, there is less money available to donate to organizations such as the Burke. The need is still there! Please help provide a better future for the boys by supporting the event on Monday March 2nd at 6.30 p.m. at the Mandola Estate just south of Driftwood on TX-150. An evening of good food, good wine, good fun, and exciting silent and live auctions is promised. All proceeds will benefit the Burke Center. Tickets are $100 each and available by calling (512) 858-1506.

J. Marie Bassett (Member of the Volunteer Committee)