Texoma Gives: The Refuge

The Refuge opens its doors to Olney – offering free meals and after-school programs to children, and recreation and spiritual sanctuary to everyone – and each of the past six years, the community has repaid the favor during Texoma Gives to keep the Christian community center’s doors open.

Texoma Gives, a 16-hour online fundraising event for area nonprofits, is set this year for Sept. 8. The annual fundraiser provides about 80 percent of The Refuge’s annual budget with grants filling in the rest, Rodney Nantz, director of The Refuge, and his wife Kristy Nantz, said.

“It’s the whole thing,” he said. “It’s our yearly fundraiser.”

The proceeds from Texoma Gives to The Refuge pay for “everything from operating programs, to running the building, to paying the electricity, to paying us, to paying [Children’s Ministry Director] Jacqueline [Gober]. It encompasses all of it,” Mrs. Nantz said.

The Refuge will welcome supporters and the curious on Sept. 8 starting at 6 a.m. with breakfast burritos, and will serve a lunch of pulled pork sandwiches, chips, and cake at 11:30 a.m., Mrs. Nantz said. “We’re here all day and we love it,” she said. “Anybody’s invited.”

Anyone who wants to donate can use computers at The Refuge to log on to the Texoma Gives website at https://www.texomagives.org.

In October, The Refuge begins the seventh year of its mission as a youth outreach center, meeting house, community gym, workout room, and meeting facility – all free of charge to the community. It offers an after-school program for grades 2 through 6, weekly Bible study meetings, church-sponsored “5th quarters” after hometown football games for kids and their families, as well as summer camps in sciences and art, and summer internships.

“It’s a local mission … to support the local churches, to reach out and to seek to touch the hearts of individuals to really bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to every individual,” Mr. Nantz said. “We follow our mission statement, which is to … use the gospel to strengthen our community, to support local churches, and to strengthen families. Kristy and I do our best to be available – if there’s a crisis and someone needs help – we’re available to help and bring support. The Refuge really is the Olney Christian Community Center. It is a mission outreach to the entire community.”

Over the summer, The Refuge’s feeding program served 1,200 meals to Olney children – at no charge to the families. Its “Foster Closet” has provided donated clothes, toys, and baby gear to children and families in need.

The generous space at 1418 W. Elm St. hosts a revolving cast of community members from martial arts to women’s arts groups, movie nights, volleyball camps, Top of Texas cheer practices, and pickup basketball games. “It’s geared for families that work or need a safe place for their kids to go after school… Mostly we want to provide kids a safe place to come,” Mrs. Nantz said. “We do some homework assistance and work on social skills and problem solving with the use of God’s word. We desire to help teach the kids about God and in turn, pray that that extends to their families. Those things will change their lives. It changed our lives. Our kids led us to church and it’s a testimony to the power of God.

Attendance dipped during COVID but has rebounded strongly over the past few months, and donations have mostly kept pace, Mr. Nantz said. The three summer camps - science, art, and back-to-school math and reading refreshers - were filled to capacity, Ms. Gober said.

The Refuge is open to everyone from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The Olney group views a home in Moscow. Submitted Photo