Our Charity Efforts
Giving back has always been part of who we are.
Ysleta Mission Gift Shop is a small family business with multi-generational roots in Ysleta. This community has given our family a home, supported our business, and allowed us to welcome visitors from around the world.
We believe that when you are fortunate enough to be part of a community, you also have a responsibility to give something back.
Sometimes that means raising money. Sometimes it means donating merchandise, helping with a fundraiser, supporting a local organization, or simply stepping forward when someone needs a helping hand.
We may be a small business, but we have never believed that being small limits the good we can do.
Supporting the Franciscans
Our location at the historic Ysleta Mission has given us a special opportunity to support the Franciscan community serving the parish.
Over the years, visitors to our shop have generously left monetary donations. We collect those contributions and pass them along to the Order of Conventual Franciscans to support their work and ministry.
We have also participated in church fundraising activities and events organized by parish groups.
For us, supporting these efforts is another way of supporting the community surrounding our little shop.
Helping Our Migrant & Refugee Community
One effort especially close to our hearts was helping raise funds for a newly established migrant and refugee center.
Working alongside Friar Jarek and others in the community, we organized both online and in-person auctions to help raise money for the center.
The center provided temporary housing and assistance to migrants and refugees as they navigated the difficult process of seeking legal status and determining what came next in their journeys.
Customers, supporters, and members of our community came together to participate.
It was a powerful reminder of what can happen when many people contribute what they can.
Supporting Local Organizations
Our giving extends beyond monetary donations.
Throughout the years, YMGS has donated merchandise and other support to nonprofit organizations, churches, schools, veterans' groups, fundraising events, and community programs.
Organizations and causes we have been honored to support include the Lions Club, women's spiritual conferences, veterans' organizations, Annunciation House, UTEP Catholic Campus Ministry, Mt. Carmel Friars, Ysleta Education Foundation, El Paso Elks Lodge, and others working throughout our community.
Sometimes a donated item becomes part of an auction or raffle. Sometimes it helps an organization raise money. Other times it simply provides something needed for an event or program.
Each contribution may seem small on its own, but together those small acts can make a difference.
Supporting Those Who Serve
As a veteran-owned family business, supporting veterans and organizations that serve them is especially meaningful to us.
We understand the importance of recognizing service, supporting military families, and remembering that the needs of veterans do not end when their military service does.
When opportunities arise to support veteran organizations and community efforts benefiting those who served, we are proud to participate whenever we can.
Small Business. Shared Community.
We don't share our charitable efforts because we expect recognition for them.
We share them because they are part of the story of Ysleta Mission Gift Shop and part of what we believe being a community business should mean.
Our customers make much of this possible.
Every person who shops small, leaves a donation, participates in one of our fundraisers, shares an event, or supports a community organization alongside us becomes part of that effort.
There will always be more work to do and more people who need help.
We cannot do everything.
But we can do something.
And whenever we are able, we will continue looking for ways to support the community that has supported our family for generations.
More Than a Gift Shop. It’s a Mission.
