His Joshua House to host 4th annual Wild Game Dinner with auction, prizes

After canceling last year’s fundraiser due to COVID-19, the stakes are higher now for His Joshua House to raise lots of cash during this summer’s 4th Wild Game Dinner.

“Halfway houses are state funded and run by the government. We are a recovery house,” said event organizer Scooter Sanders. “We live solely by donations and fundraiser.

“The guys can stay there up to a year to get sober and get their life straight.”

The organization also works with Bluebonnet Trails MHMR to assist with referrals for mental health or trauma issue.

“We can also help them get their driver’s license, pay their child support,” Sanders said. “People out there don’t know how to connect to the resources.

“We help them find jobs, get to their jobs, change their whole living habits.”

The Wild Game Dinner is scheduled for June 12 at the Highland Lakes United Methodist Church, 8303 FM 1431 in Buchanan Dam.

The location changed from the normal venue, Kingsland Community Center due to the redesign of the venue which is not conducive to hosting large gatherings.

The doors open at the church at 2 p.m., serving starts at 3 p.m. with games and auctions starting at 5 p.m.

“It’s our largest event to help fund His Joshua House,” Sanders said. “We’re expecting about 300 people.

“Our guys and volunteers will be cooking all the food,” he added.

Attendees can buy tickets in advance or at the door for $25 per person. Along with the dinner, the event will feature live music, door prizes and guns and other merchandise raffles.

Food includes smoked venison, smoked pork, wild hog, red stag sliders and jalapeno and venison sausage as well as potato salad coleslaw and beans and a dessert.

“We are having, for the first time, a drive through for pick-up plates to go,” he said. “That’s for those folks that don’t feel quite safe attending but they can still support us.”

In previous years, the event has raised approximately $50,000. The goal is to raise $64,000, the annual cost of operating the house, based in Kingsland.

The facility serves about eight clients at a time and since 2015 has assisted 75 men, who can live there up to a year on a voluntary basis. The clients are primarily court-ordered or probation-based referrals but also come to the facility with recommendations from the community and local churches.

“This is God-driven. It is a faith-based recovery house,” he said. “Sometimes they’re in jail. They hit rock bottom and need help. Sometimes they hear about us in church.

“We help them get integrated back into their families. We help them completely change their lives.”

“This place is desperately needed here.”

Past clients are scheduled to attend the event and share their success stories.

Long-term goals of the non profit organization include paying off the mortgage of the Kingsland facility, funding additional recovery houses in other Highland Lakes communities and eventually creating a “transition house” for men.

“One of the difficulties is men have criminal backgrounds; they’re denied leases,” Sanders said. “They need to have a place to go after this, so they can have a place to transition.

“They can have a rental history and build that credit, so they can move forward in life. Our goal is to open up another one in the area. We need more support to help these young men have a better life.”

Donations for the facility assist in day-to-day operations and resources such as oil changes to maintain transportation for work, dental care and other basic needs.

Organizers welcome local professionals to donate items for the auction and raffle at the event.

The group is looking for volunteers to serve food as well as more auction items and donations from the community.

For more information, go to www.joshuarecovery.org. To buy tickets, tables or sponsorships in advance, contact Sanders at 512-876-8125, executive director Robert Hall at 512-755-5674 or email joshuahousetexas@gmail.com.