WITH POLL | HandsOn Texarkana’s 14th annual tapas and wine event coming in October

HandsOn Texarkana Executive Director Amy Lemley, from left, Ashtyn Striplin and Negen Revels show off their 1920s-style costumes at Tapas and Wine on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, in Texarkana, Texas. This year's event is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. (Staff file photo by Junius Stone)
HandsOn Texarkana Executive Director Amy Lemley, from left, Ashtyn Striplin and Negen Revels show off their 1920s-style costumes at Tapas and Wine on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, in Texarkana, Texas. This year's event is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. (Staff file photo by Junius Stone)


TEXARKANA, Texas -- Locally grown nonprofit HandsOn Texarkana is making plans for its 14th annual Tapas and Wine fundraiser, to be held in October.

"We're excited," Executive Director Amy Lemley said. "We will be having Verona along with their very talented chef, Hector Jimenez, for our catering this year. We're trying to elevate, make this bigger, make it nicer, elegant -- so we're really excited to have them."

Lemley said the wine will be supplied by the same visiting winery as the previous year, Enoch's Stomp Vineyard and Winery of Harleton, Texas, and that local band Chasing Rita will provide entertainment for the 1920s-style evening. There will also be a Smile on the Line photo booth present to capture memories of the night under the stars.

 

"Dressing up is optional, but it's a fun thing to do," Lemley said. "The Collins Home is a 1920s home, so it works with that theme."

Lemley said the event started as a way to bring in specialty wines that can't be found in Texarkana and to showcase the organization's base, the Collins Home. Last year's event raised approximately $25,000, and Lemley hopes for Texarkana wine lovers to rally and raise $30,000 to $35,000.

There will also be an online silent auction that will open the week prior to the event.

"We're needing to of course recover some of those funds we lost during COVID-19," Lemley said. "It's been very hard for business sponsorship donations. We rely on donations, sponsorships for our fundraisers and a few grants that we write. But it's mainly donations and sponsorships. Everyone's having a hard time."

Lemley hopes the organization can expand its programs to help more people.

"Everything from this fundraiser is going straight back here (Texarkana)," Lemley emphasized. "It stays local, it helps our local people. The services we provide could be to your elderly neighbor next door."

HandsOn Texarkana provides rides to senior citizens to doctor appointments and other necessary errands, along with delivering food boxes and essential items to this population, which Lemley said often doesn't have means for transportation or family to help them.

The nonprofit has a youth volunteering program that will restart soon after being halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program provides training to teachers to show the value of volunteering, how it builds connections and helps the community.

The organization also offers parenting courses for those who are about to leave incarceration to help teach how to connect with their children and break the cycle of parent-child relationship struggles.

(Tapas and Wine is scheduled for 5 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Collins Home, 1915 Olive St. For more information, call 903-798-3211 or email [email protected].)


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