Our Story
April 19th, 2022
Back in April of 2022 a group of volunteers from all walks of life held a meeting at a local restaurant in Seminole, TX. The goal: to create an organization that consisted of neighbors helping neighbors through mutual aid and community projects to help make Gaines County a better place for all.
The folks at that first meeting came from all over our service area, young and old, religious and non-religious, English, Spanish, and German speakers, all new to any kind of mutual aid work. What they had in common was a great desire to make our little society on the plains a more equitable, kind, and sustainable place.
July 14th, 2022
In July, Blue Skies Mutual Aid Inc officially gained 501(c)3 status, becoming the very first mutual-aid-based nonprofit in Gaines County history. This marked a turning point for our operations and goals as we could now receive tax-deductible monetary and in-kind donations from the public. Our passion as a team was realized in an official designation by the IRS that allowed a whole new expansion of possibilities.
Present Day
Today Blue Skies has helped make an impact by assisting with the local community garden, packing food for the hungry, raising funds for those in need, and collecting and distributing donated clothing and household items. We also have numerous community projects in the works and are always improving our organization through training, utilizing technology and social media, the latest software, and making local connections with those in need.
Sometimes you can’t wait for the storms to pass, you just have to bring the blue skies. Support our work today by donating funds or gently-used items, volunteering with our team, or spreading the work on social media. Thank you for being a part of making the skies just a little more blue!
Sept 27th, 2022
September of 2022 saw the 6 Month Anniversary for Blue Skies as an organization and the first official report to the Board of Directors. By this point we had received six loads of donated items from the community, were given a free storage unit to hold those donations, assisted two people with finding employment and housing, and much more! In six months we had created something out of nothing and began to serve clients in Gaines County to assist in stabilizing their lives, much to the delight of all of our volunteers.
Dec 27th, 2022
With the end of the year in sight, Blue Skies produced their first impact report titled 2022 State of the Skies Report. It was during the last meeting of the year that the report was presented to all of the volunteers describing all that was accomplished in 2022, including assisting 5 clients, donating locally-made crocheted animals to Seminole Memorial Hospital, creating databases for job and housing opportunities, and raising over $4,000 for a window and her son. The volunteers and Board of Directors reflected on all that was accomplished and the state of the sky was declared to be BLUE.