San Marcos area non-profit Mission Able hosted its annual fundraising gala “MATV Dine & Dime” on Thursday, April 9. The event raised over $100,000 for its Home Repair Program which serves vulnerable Hays County residents. Key civic leaders in attendance included representatives from the city of San Marcos, The Red Cross, Mc-Coys, La Cima, Divided Sky, The Lions Club, and local faith leaders.
Voted “2025 Non-Profit of the Year” by the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce, Mission Able completes critical home repair projects in the community that improve the quality of life for Hays County residents. These improvements allow local residents to live safely in their homes. The non-profit serves the elderly, residents on a low or fixed income, and others with unmet needs. “It’s just neighbors helping neighbors,” Monica Followell, the Executive Director said.
At 5:30 p.m., 180 guests gathered in a rustic barn on a hill among live oaks at the Harper Hill Ranch. Outside Longhorns and miniature donkeys grazed on the 128-acre estate near Texas Hwy 123. The fundraiser included live music, children’s performances, live and silent auctions, a pledge drive, a message, a raffle and a meal.
Community partners supplied generous donations for the silent auction which included: a professional studio portrait package, siding repair and bathroom renovation packages, a private gym membership, Yeti beverage buckets, swag boxes, HVAC cleaning services, one deluxe propane pizza oven, handmade woodcrafts, a free golf swing evaluation, a reclaimed Supercoil LT Crossbow, and a furnished handyman toolbag.
“Our vulnerable neighbors often feel unseen,” Followell said. “But we do see you. It might be through a cloud of sawdust and from a pair of safety goggles, but we see you.”
In attendance were a handful of the non-profit’s clients who recently had significant construction projects completed on their homes.
“My mother Cookie has been a resident of San Marcos for 81 years,” Carlos Lucio said. “They did a tremendous job restoring my mother’s kitchen and bathroom. This organization is wonderful for what they do with people on a fixed income. It’s beautiful,” Lucio said.
Also sitting at Carlos and Cookie Lucio’s dinner table to their left was Mission Able’s Project Manager Doug Evans. After the event, chairs were stacked, tables rolled away and the event’s production materials loaded back into worktrucks and volunteer vehicles packed to the roof. Early the next morning as volunteers assembled to unload their vehicles, Evans commented, “I am blown away by the generosity of others, and that folks would let us into their most private spaces.”
