GMAC event helps fund success stories

Friday, Aug. 07, 2015

OGDEN — Give Me a Chance, a Daughters of Charity organization dedicated to giving increased opportunities to women and families in poverty, will host its second annual fundraising event, “A Stitch in Time,” on Aug. 28. 

“Last year’s event was a very nice evening,” said Daughters of Charity Sister Maria Nguyen, GMAC’s leader and organizer; the funds raised at the event go directly to the programs that assist women, which include classes on sewing, nutrition and business skills, workshops on self-esteem, counseling services, and an after-school program for children. “The whole purpose of this event is to fund the programs that we cannot fund otherwise,” she said.  

GMAC’s programs have helped a number of women, including Maricela Romero and Maria Juarez, who have started their own businesses. 

Romero was cleaning houses and caring for her four children prior to getting involved with GMAC. After seeing an advertisement at her local parish, Romero attended GMAC’s first sewing class. 

“I’ve always sewn, just not professionally. When I started the classes, I learned so much, especially from Sr. Maria,” said Romero, who went on to teach sewing classes at GMAC for three years. 

Her family became involved with the center as well. 

“My children use the after-school program, and my children, my husband – we all volunteer to help Sr. Maria,” she explained. 

Romero also was doing alterations from her home, “and it got to the point where I realized I needed a place just to do this business,” so she opened her own alterations shop in Roy, called Mary’s Alterations. 

“GMAC has impacted my life a lot. It’s changed so much in my life, because now I am more secure, I can help other people, and I can set an example for my children,” said Romero, who was born in Sinaloa, Mexico. 

Calling Sr. Maria her mentor, Romero added that GMAC “gives you the ability to be a better person, and to be self-sufficient.”

Juarez, who first took a GMAC sewing class in 2013 at Romero’s invitation, has a similar story. 

“After my first sewing class with Sr. Maria, I came to a nutrition class, and then after that I came to another class, a self-esteem class, and it was amazing,” said Juarez, who is originally from Tlaxcala, Mexico. She is learning to speak English, and her four children attend GMAC’s after-school program. 

Prior to GMAC, Juarez was baby-sitting friends’ children and taking care of her own family. Now, she and five other women have started their own cleaning business, Ambience Cleaning Solutions.

 “It has been a blessing to be involved with this program, and it has created a lot of good changes for my family. My kids are learning, and for me, more important than the money [is] to be here, to learn and to have someone support you,” said Juarez. “Before this I was praying to God to please give me the opportunity to find a place where I can serve the community. I was praying for opportunities, and then I found this place, and it gave me a chance.” 

Citing “the big group of supporters and guidance of GMAC,” Juarez said that the women and families involved with GMAC “are blessed to have this opportunity to learn, to have a little or big change in our life.” Because of this support, “we have everything that we need: business license, insurance, everything. We are working on our logo and marketing, and looking for opportunities to start work at places.” 

Beyond fundraising for the center and its programs, GMAC’s annual charity event is also designed to raise its profile within the community. 

“We want the public to know that we are here to support the community, especially women and children,” Sr. Maria said. “The individual growth, the change in self-esteem, and the knowledge that they are valued and that we care for them is what we try to do.”

The fundraiser, A Stitch in Time, includes a dinner, dancing, live auction and fashion show that showcases attire made by women in the sewing programs. 

WHAT: A Stitch in Time fundraiser for Give Me a Chance

WHEN: Aug. 28, 5:30 p.m.; dinner at 7 p.m.

WHERE: HUB 801, 3225 Riverdale Road, Ogden

COST: $50/individual tickets;sponsorship levels available

For information or tickets, 

call 801-627-2235.