Community shops for a cause at Helping Hands Festival of Trees

Winning trees recognized

ROCKWALL (November 21, 2013) The 2013 Helping Hands Festival of Trees began November 15^th at 10 am sharp with a bevy of Christmas shoppers flooding the Hilton Dallas/Rockwall Lakefront hotel to kick-off their holiday shopping with touring and purchasing the amazing Christmas trees and wreaths.

It was a magical, festive event as the community came together once again in the spirit of this wonderful holiday season for a common cause – the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate of our community.

The annual event benefited Rockwall County Helping Hands – a non-profit agency that helps keep families in crisis in their homes with the utilities on and nutritious food on their tables, and its Health Center offers basic affordable medical care for the uninsured and underinsured.

Highlighting the event were more than 20 decorated Christmas trees donated by local businesses and organizations. From elegant to whimsical, the one-of-a-kind trees combined with a visit from Santa Clause created a beautiful holiday setting.

Tree decorator winners were:

• People’s Choice Award: Rockwall-Heath Early Childhood PTA  
• Judge’s Choice: Bella’s House
• Most Traditional: Expresssion’s Home Décor & Custom Florals
• Most Unique:  Rockwall Art League
• Best Small Tree: Aspasians

Worker Bee Studio took home the prize as the “Repurpose Challenge” award winner for their astounding transformation of an old armoire from the Centsible Thrift Store into a modern cocktail bar.

Back by popular demand, the Boutique of Helping Hands set aside a special area selling the best of the best donated merchandise at low prices.

As the day turned into night, so began the gala which included a live auction by Gary Freedman, The Voice of Rockwall, the raffle of exquisite diamond loop earrings donated by Willis Jewelers and the sale of original holiday centerpieces that adorned each table.

Festival of Trees was made possible by our sponsors, including:

Title Sponsors:

ATMOS Energy

Hilton Dallas/Rockwall Lakefront

Presenting Sponsors:

Community Bank

TrendHR

Living Magazine

Willis Fine Jewelry

Corporate Sponsors:

City Bank Texas

Homebank Texas

Inwood National Bank

LiechtyMcGinnis Attorneys & Counselors

Universal Exca-Tech, Inc.

Event Sponsors: Alliance Bank; Jack & Jean Abernathy, American National Bank of Texas; Ebby Halliday, Farmers Electric Cooperative; Honda Cars of Rockwall; Law Office of Kim Timpa, P.C; Lake Pointe Medical Center; Lifetime Wealth Management; Oncor; Rockwall Area Chamber; Rockwall Auto Direct, Texas Health Presbyterian Rockwall; and Toyota of Rockwall.

Now Helping Hands is working on collecting toys and gift cards so Rockwall children in need will have a good Christmas.

“Please remember to donate a new and unwrapped toy or gift cards for teenagers to the Helping Hands Toy Drive so we can share the magic of Christmas,” said Margo Nielsen, executive director. “Collection bins are located in several local businesses, or you can bring them to the Helping Hands campus at 905 Williams St.”

Last year, Helping Hands provided 1,299 children (ages 0 to 16) from almost 500 families with at least three new toys – and we hope to keep that tradition going and growing this year.

Please visit Rockwallhelpinghands.com or call 972-771-HELP (4357) for more information about the agency.

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