CEDAR PARK Sixth-grader Gracie Garbade stood by a busy street in her Cedar Park neighborhood on a sunny day two days before Thanksgiving with friends and family by her side.
She waved a sign over her head that said, “Gracie’s Canned Goods Food Drive.”
Within 40 minutes, three drivers stopped to give her donations, including first-grade teacher Jaclyn Ashby, who dropped off two giant garbage bags full of food collected at Sommers Elementary School.
Gracie, 11, created her non-profit, Gracies Canned Goods, to raise money and collect canned goods for food pantries and groups that help families and students. The organization has donated $6,000 this year to five groups, including Hill Country Community Ministries, the Central Texas Food Bank and the Backpack Friends, said her mother, Melissa Garbade. Gracie also donated money she has raised this year to the Hope Austin and to the Backpack Coalition.
So far this year, she has gathered almost 1,000 pounds of canned goods. Last year, when her parents established her non-profit, she collected $5,000 and 1,838 pounds of food.
Gracie had just a few words to describe her mission while soliciting roadside donations Tuesday: “I want to make sure everyone has food to eat.”
This year, she is joining the Cedar Park Police Department’s Blue Santa program to collecting food and donations for families in need.
She started wanting to collect canned food when she was 5 years old and noticed homeless people, she said. “Seeing people on the street made me feel bad, and I wanted to help them.”
That year, she collected 100 pounds of food with the help of family and friends, her mother said. Gracie kept on collecting more and more food each year and setting higher and higher goals for herself.
Gracie’s family helps her with her efforts, her mother said. Grabade said she drives the canned goods that Gracie collects to Hill Country Ministries in Leander. Gracie’s father, Brad Grabade, a salesman for a cybersecurity company, helps her with online efforts, such as her Facebook page, Gracies Canned Goods, which accepts donations.
Her 8-year-old brother, Wyatt, helps organize the donated food. He also admires what people give.
“Sloppy joe sauce,” he said picking up a can that someone had just donated while Grace was standing with her sign. “Nice.”
The amount that people donate sometimes surprises her, Grace said. “Someone donated 20 boxes of cereal.”
Tiesa Holloway, a spokeswoman for Hill Country Ministries, said she first met Gracie when the girl was in the first grade. “She has the heart and the passion for not letting anyone go hungry.”
Over the years, Gracie has collected up to 20,000 pounds of food and several thousand dollars for Hill Country Community Ministries, which provides meals for several thousand families a year, Holloway said.
“It’s a big deal,” said Holloway.
Ashby, the teacher, said she has known Gracie since she was 5 years old and has watched her efforts to help others grow.
“She has a heart of gold,” Ashby said.
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