‘Our Community Cares’ organizers pleased despite move indoors

Oct. 10--The fourth annual Our Community Cares events managed to serve hundreds of residents Tuesday despite early morning precipitation forcing a last-minute move to the Camp Bowie Recreation Center.

The Our Community Cares event typically takes place outside Redstone Park Retirement and Assisted Living but early morning storms forced the building indoors and Redstone RCA director Jassia Roberts credited City of Brownwood Parks and Recreation Director David Withers for saving the event.

"We had a little bit more from the community last year, but I think a lot of people went to Redstone," Roberts said. "We announced it on the radio last minute. We didn't find this location until yesterday. If it was not for David Withers with the city, we would not have had it at all. They were wonderful to us. It started pouring down rain this weekend so we had a meeting bright and early Monday morning to figure out what to do."

The solution was the Camp Bowie Recreation Center, located just outside Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood. Interim Hospice provided free hotdogs and chips for all visitors, which included more than 50 venders offering visitors everything from potential savings in auto insurance to free health and vision checks along with a host of other programs for middle and lower income families.

"We're blessed our goal is to help people and if we helped one person find resources today then that's all it's ever been about," Roberts said. "This is our fourth annual and we love it. Four years ago, my boss and I had a referral come in. They wanted an apartment at Redstone and they had no clue about home health. They had no clue it was covered under Medicare. They had no clue it was out there for them. We talked about bringing these organizations out there in the community and letting them know what was there for them."

In spite of the wet weather, more than 50 businesses attended this year's Our Community Cares event, speaking to the hundreds that filed through the rows of tables with representatives from each organization.

"When we started, in our first year, we had 24 venders," Roberts said. "It has now grown to more than 50 every time we do it. Every year, it gets bigger and bigger. Our organizations are so loyal, even in the rain."

One of the new attendees was Donnetta Alexander with Positive Paws Dog Training, who brought her dog Killa, who also serves as a therapy dog for Devine Canines. As the event neared an end, Alexander said she plans to attend again in 2019 after seeing dozens of potential new clients.

"We've had plenty of visitors with plenty of questions about our dog training. They want to know how to become therapy dogs like Killa," Alexander said. "It's been a great experience today. This is our first time participating and I'm glad we did. It was kind of confusing at first. We planned to go outside, but being inside was a lot better."

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