Serving the Nations at Brother Bill’s
This summer, the world comes to Dallas. The neighbors who help make Dallas what it is are already here.
The Community
Walk through the doors of Brother Bill’s on a summer morning and you’ll hear it before you see it.
Spanish from one aisle. A greeting in two languages. A child’s voice. The shuffle of a cart loaded with the week’s groceries.
The families who shop here come from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela, and dozens of countries beyond. They’ve built lives in Dallas. They work. They raise children. And they come to Brother Bill’s because this is a place where they can find what they need and feel, in some way, known.
This summer, as the World Cup comes to Dallas, that community is on our minds. Not because of the tournament. Because of what their presence here tells us about who this city is.
“From the beginning, God’s heart has been for every nation. At Brother Bill’s, we see that every day: not across the world, but right here in Dallas.”
Why Summer Matters
When school ends, so do the meals.
For the families Brother Bill’s serves, summer isn’t a vacation. It’s the hardest stretch: when budgets that were already tight get stretched further, when children are home, and the safety net of a school lunch disappears with nothing to replace it.
Summer, for many of them, means losing ground they spent the whole year trying to gain.
Soccer Camp and Beach Bash exist because of that reality. They aren’t extras. They are anchors. A child who has somewhere to be this summer is better positioned for the fall. A family who doesn’t have to worry about lunch for five days in June has a little more room to breathe.
Soccer Camp
Soccer Camp: First Week of June
Soccer Camp runs the first week of June. One week. Three fields, 50 volunteer coaches, and children who have somewhere to be.
The children who come also get lunch: one less thing a parent has to figure out. They come back each morning, which means structure during the months that tend to unravel it. They play alongside kids from a dozen countries, in the city hosting the World Cup, and feel for an hour like they belong to something bigger.
A neighbor’s story
Sabrina coaches youth soccer in Oak Cliff. She has been running drills with neighborhood kids for years, teaching the game her community has always loved.
Her daughters, Elly and Ella, spend every summer at Brother Bill's camps: soccer, dance, gardening and cheer. By 7:00 each morning, they are already dressed and waiting by the door.
Over the weeks, Sabrina watched her daughters grow more confident, more willing to try new things, more comfortable in their own skin. The staff knew their names. Elly and Ella were not visitors passing through. They were regulars, expected, belonging somewhere. By August, they had learned new dances, grown vegetables, made friends, and slid down the waterslide at the Beach Bash end-of-summer celebration..
We asked Sabrina what summer at Brother Bill's meant to her family. "It builds a strong sense of community, confidence, and security."
Beach Bash
Beach Bash: First Week of August
Beach Bash is the first week of August. It’s the day when the families who’ve been coming all summer show up together. Not only to receive school supplies, but also to celebrate. To be in the same place at the same time and feel what it means to belong to a community that holds.
This year, Brother Bill’s has been named a Kershaw’s Challenge beneficiary. Beach Bash is covered.
Kershaw’s Challenge
Kershaw’s Challenge is covering Beach Bash. The community is challenged to fund the rest of summer: the groceries, the Soccer Camp, the six weeks of programming in between.
What your gift makes possible this summer:
$50 sends one child to Soccer Camp for the week: lunch every day, and a place to belong.
$100 covers a family's groceries for a full summer month.
$250 sponsors one child through the full summer: including soccer, Bible adventure camp, dance, basketball and everything in between.
$15/month supports summer programming for a neighbor in need.
$100/month sustains a family through the full season: groceries, programming, and stability.
North Texas Giving Day is September 17. Brother Bill’s will be there. Mark your calendar.