July Speeches

July 15, 2014 - Speaking at MADD's Adult VIP at 6:00 pm located at the Salvation Army (600 S. Wilson Creek Parkway, McKinney, Texas 75069.

Garage Sale Fundraiser JUNE 28-29!

We have set a date for our garage sale fundraiser and are kindly asking for garage sale donations, volunteers, and shoppers! We are most in need of big donation items and volunteers for Saturday, June 29th.

Please contact me if interested in helping at tonya.winchester@hotmail.com. Thank you!

June 28-29, 2013
805 Bluffview Dr., McKinney, TX 75071

Details: http://tonyawinchester.com/Garage_Sale_2013.htm

Fundraiser Flyer: http://tonyawinchester.com/Flyers/Garage%20Sale%202013.doc

Life Update

Hello family and friends!


I have been good and just finished another semester of school. I have been at UNT for a year now studying social work and love it! I have been learning so much about people, society, behaviors, and especially, myself. I also have been growing a lot in my faith and spending a great deal of my time volunteering. I have been speaking for MADD since 2009 and for the YMCA since last June. And for a little over a year, I have been volunteering at Meals On Wheels as a "well check" caller to 55 clients every Monday. These three things - school, growth in faith, and volunteering - have opened many doors for me but more importantly, they have been preparing me for the life ahead of me and affirming the personal revelations from God about myself, my future, and my purpose. And I look forward to further opportunities to use my skills and talents once I graduate in May 2016 (from taking only two classes per semester)! My family has also been doing well (minus the major foundation work and sewer leaks in our house)! My boyfriend Billy recently started a new job which he enjoys and my sister Natacha moved to Colorado at the beginning of May with her boyfriend!

This summer I plan to continue volunteering but am interested in gaining experience with the homeless. We have one homeless shelter in my county and it happens to be in my hometown. I am not sure how I can help at the Samaritan Inn but I definitely plan to get plugged in. I also have plans to update my website (three new pages) and create several fundraisers for my boyfriend's best friend who is paralyzed. Be on the look out for his fundraisers!

Community Garage Sale Fundraiser in June

We are raising funds for two important things:
a) A MOTOmed motorized hand-cycle and bicycle ($8,000) - will aide in strengthening, range of motion, and overall physical health
b) Modifications for my van so I can drive and be independent (quoted $30,000-$50,000) - will aide in independence

We are having another community garage sale fundraiser for the "kick-off" fundraiser and are kindly asking for your help!

Ways you can help:
1) Donate items for the garage sale
2) Volunteer (before, during, and/or after [clean-up])
3) Shop at the garage sale
4) Tell your friends and family!
5) Pray

We thank you for your support in the past, now, and in the future. If wanting to help, please email me at tonya.winchester@hotmail.com. Once we get an idea of who is able to help and what days work best for them, I will send a mass email with an attached flyer! We are waning to have the fundraiser in June.



*We are also raising funds for my boyfriend's best friend Toby, who was in a bad car accident last September and is now paralyzed (C4), for him to have a computer with adaptive technology as well as inpatient rehabilitation. We are having trouble getting help from organizations known for helping in these areas and after patiently waiting 7 months, we have decided to take financial matters in our own hands. I will be posting a blog regarding his first fundraiser soon!

I realize that many of you either live far away or are not financially or materially able to help, but we were hoping you could keep us in your thoughts and prayers and spread the word! :)

Thank you so much! God bless!

Go and Be Event - Helping and Meeting the Needs of McKinney Residents

Go and Be is a whole event where we deploy all our 3e McKinney partner churches to make a statement: there's a God in heaven who loves the people of this community, and we get to bring people that news through our humble acts of service. Let's join together as families, groups and as church family to serve our local communities with outrageous service, bringing a little bit of heaven to earth. This year, our primary focus will be on revitalizing one specific area in east McKinney, the Rockwall community. As we partner with the City of McKinney, 3e McKinney, Habitat for Humanity and Volunteer McKinney, we are accepting a God-sized challenge to show the love of Christ by renovating 25-30 homes.

  

April 20, 2013   this will be prep. Day for the projects, cleanup, power washing and some construction and scraping.  Getting ready for the paint to go on the home.

April 27, 2013 will be the big day.  One of the major projects will be painting, also landscaping and maybe some construction.

For those that want to meet the residents and not paint, we will also do surveys that day. I will provide a quick training class on how to complete form so ask for me.  So this is just walking house to house talking and blessing the people of the community.

All events start at 8 am and go to 4pm each day, but come when you can and leave when it is needed.

Please visit the 3e website to sign up as a volunteer or you can contact Leroy Smith.

Tentatively we are supposed to park in a truck parking lot at 800 elm st, mckinney

Smith, Leroy. "Go & Be Event." Message to Tonya Winchester. 15 April 2013. E-mail. 

Thank you for helping!! I can guarantee you will be blessed!!

Upcoming Speeches

October 17, 2012 - MADD McKinney Adult VIP from 6:00-8:00 pm located at 2100 Bloomdale Road, McKinney 75071.

October 20, 2012 - I am teaming up with Teen Court and speaking at the McKinney YMCA to at-risk teenagers located at 300 Ridge Road, McKinney, TX 75070 at 1:00 pm.

I Am Featured in MADD's April Volunteer Newsletter as the Volunteer Spotlight!

I have been volunteering with MADD since 2009 and this month, they decided to feature me in their Monthly Volunteer Newsletter!

Volunteer Spotlight Reads:

Tonya was in a near fatal car crash with three other teenagers in 2005, two weeks after her high school graduation. They had been drinking into the late hours one night and then decided to take a drive. Her friend, who was driving, ran a stop sign across Highway 5 and at that exact moment, an 18-wheeler smashed into her door at 40 mph leaving her paralyzed. This June will mark the seventh anniversary of her car crash and the beginning of a grateful outlook on life.

She is twenty-four years old and lives in McKinney, Texas with her amazing parents and boyfriend of ten years. After seven years of attending Collin County Community College part-time, she finally obtained an Associate of Arts degree with emphasis in Liberal Arts last May. Now a student at the University of North Texas, her heart is set on pursuing a bachelor's and master's degree in Social Work. She always dreamed of obtaining a college degree and doing something great with her life. It will take a long time but she cannot think of a better way to live her life than by learning how she can serve and empower others.

After almost losing her life, suffering the difficult consequences of drinking and driving, and spending several years trying to make sense of it all, she received the revelation that she survived for a reason and was to share her experience with others. She is a committed volunteer for MADD because she stands for its mission, has personally witnessed how dangerous alcohol can be, and feels a spiritual calling to make a difference in as many lives as she possibly can. She started volunteering for MADD in 2009 and has served as an advocate at community fairs and a speaker to Collin County Adult and Teen Victim Impact Panels, Blue Ridge High School, Hebron High School, Ector High School and Middle School, Sam Houston High School, Collin County Community College, and Frisco Boys and Girls Club.

The rewards of volunteering with MADD are invaluable and have positively shaped her into the strong and determined leader she is today. Her volunteer experience has given her a voice and provided an avenue to make a lasting difference that can be seen, heard, and felt. She has not only learned the devastating effects of drunk driving and underage drinking but has made remarkable connections and friendships with other activists in the fight. Their voices are united in such a way that they are much more than just volunteers. They are a family that loves, provides, educates, and perseveres.

Thank you, Tonya for all your work and efforts to support our mission: to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime, and prevent underage drinking. We appreciate you.

Thanks MADD for all you do!

Freer, Linda. "April Volunteer Newsletter." MADD. 5 April 2012. Wweb. 5 April 2012. http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=oz4w7pcab&v=001euir7dY8GMWbxPH5n4fC0pG-HHf-QqbXShzTs9qdt1tZUgxrMQvR78gnaCWgZLSdDJCBnd4vc1cymEWW-UPasf7ONb7FCWS8980bEtJuh3JpuqLFjdceaXGPhFWZWsNGkd3IucVfQY9hT_l-62LVizmK2VKWAugc7YbDK1OshkW_FzVT8A_fmH-d2oOQcNRQvnZqTRlDvyMxUyf_MDKo-0yJZMfB3ews.