Burke Center for Youth is a nonprofit organization formed in 1973 to care for Texas children who are removed from their home environments due to abuse, neglect, or problems with the law. We are providing help and hope to children in crisis through our services. These are the children that belong to no one, and yet, they belong to us all. Help us to help these children in order that they may eventually belong in a family.
OUR MISSION with these children is to turn back the hands of time, and help them build self respect, self reliance, and self esteem.
OUR HOPE is to help them to unlock and melt away the pain and help them see that they are indeed loveable.
OUR GOAL is that they depart from here as productive, responsible citizens.
OUR WORK is to break the cycle of abuse and neglect..
We invite you to learn more about us and the youth we serve.
3rd Annual Burke Rally
August 14 – 16
For information, visit our
Burke Rally Page
or visit the website at:
www.burkerally.com
for more information, email
We want to extend great appreciation to our
March
2007 - March 2008 donors
Salty Dog Donors $5,000-$7,000 Tommy Bauman
Dripping Springs United Methodist Church
LOWE’S-Carolyn Gross
Guaranty Insurance-Hal Schultz
Bill and Ann Haynes
Carved Stone-Phillip
and Michele Hoggatt
Keith and Melanie Lauderdale
Mandola Estate Winery and Trattoria Lisina, Damian and Trina Mandola
Robie Robinson
Wimberley Lions Club
Salt Lick Donors $1,000-$2,499
Kurt Barton with Triton Financial
Gilbert and Virginia Burciaga
Rosemary and Charles Campise
Rex and Lisa Crowder
Stephen Cox and Sharon Darley
Gary Kelly with Southwest Airlines
Karen and Doug Foster
Julie Fox
Dennis Northington with Frost Insurance
Don Langfeld Cody and Shelly Reeves
Carlene Reeves and Ron Rencher
Sonja Simmions and Robert Moon
Stratus Properties, Inc.
HEB
David Penn
Ann Muzoz with Oak Hill UMC Sunday School
Wimberley Rotary Club
Wal-mart Inc
Salt Grass Donors $500-$999
John Blood and Elizabeth Danze Blood
Alston and Barbara Boyd
Patrick and Michelle Bullard
John C. and Sherry Burke, Jr.
Mounger and Campbell Law Firm
John M. and Carolyn Campbell
Raymalee and Greg Carter
Frank and Susan Daniels
Hyatt Regency of Bastrop
Bob and Linda Elliot
Karen Ford
Wimberley Community Civic Center
Willy and Debbie Graves
Richard, Betty and Lisa of Hill Country Swings
Rachel Hooper with Alamo Barter
PEC United Charities Inc.
Angela Johnson
Richard and Margie Kidd
Eileen and Ed Lundy
Greg Billberry
and Camille Madden
DS Pharmacy
Southwest
Airlines
Martin Payne with Boy Scouts of America
Edward and Elizabeth Reichert
Jonathan Rhoads
Sac N Pac
Mike Short
Temple Inland-Terry and Bonnie Sueltman
Franklin Bank
John Christian Jewlery
Andrea and Ron White
Dan Winters Photography
Salt of the Earth Donors $250-$499
Abraham Alvarea
Ron Baker
Marie and Delbert Bassestt
Delores Conn
Greg Rock Golf Club
Central Market
REI
Carrosel Horse
George and Patti Obernesser
Dr. Jo Ann Ponder
Dixie Powell
Cindy and Glenn Rosilier
Rafael and Janis Ruiz
Laurie and Brian Sjolseth
W.F. Smith Co.
Dubb Smith
Susan Whitworth
Previous Events
Upcoming Events
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)