MBF Agency

Austin
512.346.2229

Dallas/Ft. Worth
972.446.0500

Houston
713.776.2669

San Antonio
210.858.5040

Working Together For Our Communities

Each time Mom’s Best Friend receives a new ($125) or renewing membership ($100), we donate $25 to a local charity. We allow you to select the beneficiary from one of our partner charities below. We have chosen organizations that are consistent with our values as a company, and our target is the children within our communities.

We feel that it is essential to reach out past our own neighborhood and into the community through the power of working together, we will boost the welfare of the people and children in our community.

Austin:

Dallas / Fort Worth:

Houston:

San Antonio:

The Settlement Home for Children | Austin Children's Shelter | Young Life

Rainbow Days | Heroes for Children

Star of Hope Mission | Young Life | Child Advocates

Child Advocates, Inc. | Young Life | Ronald McDonald House

Austin Charities

of Austin

We believe that healing and learning take place when a child’s deepest needs are met. We are dedicated to helping children who have been abused and neglected by resolving their emotional, behavioral, and familial problems and providing quality residential care. Since 1916, our mission has been to care for and promote the healing of troubled children and their families.

For boys and girls, aged birth to 18, we provide a safe, therapeutic program with basic, moderate, or specialized levels of care. Our therapists on staff provide therapy for the children, multi-family groups for our families and train our foster parents. The Settlement Home locates, screens, trains and verifies potential foster parents. Our foster family staff provides continuing education for those chosen to serve and is on-call to provide support, respite care and crisis intervention when needed. Some children need short term care; others seek a place to finish growing up and many of our children will be adopted.

When children are removed from their homes due to life-threatening abuse or neglect, a temporary home must be found for them until more permanent plans are made. The Austin Children’s Shelter has provided a safe haven for children in crisis from birth to 17 years of age for more than 20 years. It is the goal of the Shelter to reduce the emotional trauma suffered by child victims of abuse, violence and neglect, in a safe and loving place.

Established in 1984, in its original state as the Austin-Travis County Shelter for Infants and Children, the Shelter relied on house parents who could care for fewer than 10 children. As the agency grew to meet the needs of abused and neglected children in Central Texas, the facilities, staff and services increased. Today, ACS provides care in a home-like environment to approximately 300 children each year.

As we look to the future, it is with the vision that we will, one day, be able to care for every child who needs our services. We believe that we, as an agency and as a community, cannot turn our backs on our most valuable, and most vulnerable, resource - our children.

Picture a sea of teenage faces in a crowded school hallway. Some kids are trying to blend in; some are being carried along by the crowd; others are deliberately swimming against the tide. All of them are trying to find their way in a culture that is crowded with the noise and glare of media messages and peer expectations.

Young Life seeks to carry the message of Jesus Christ into that tumultuous tide and points teenagers toward life as they were created to live it. As leaders get to know teenagers, they are able to share the love of Jesus Christ through platforms like Young Life club, Campaigners and trips to camp.

Whether kids are seeking answers or just acceptance, Young Life is there for them, armed with a desire for fun and the ultimate message of hope.

Dallas/Fort Worth Charities

For over 25 years, Rainbow Days has been dedicated to fulfilling their mission of: providing children living in high risk situations with the skills and support they need to overcome adversity and stay drug-free. Since 1982, over 70,000 children have been served in the Dallas area and over 21,000 training participants have been trained throughout the U.S. in how to implement a support group or other prevention program with children in their community.

Rainbow Days serves over 5,000 children and youth and over 300 parents at 70 different community-based sites including local elementary schools, homeless shelters, transitional living centers, domestic violence centers, after-school programs, and recreation centers in the 4-county Dallas area. We provide innovative prevention programs to teach children how to: make good decisions with regard to alcohol, drugs and tobacco, set and achieve their goals, deal with problems and emotions effectively, resist peer pressure and identify ways to live a healthy and drug-free life. In addition, through our Training Services Division, Rainbow Days impacts thousands more children in Texas and around the nation by training other teachers, counselors and other helping professionals to use Rainbow Days’ programs with the children they serve.

Heroes for Children is a nonprofit organization providing financial and social assistance to families, within the state of Texas, with children (0-22 yrs of age) battling cancer.

Since it's inception in 2005, Heroes for Children has spent more than $750,000 on program services (as of the end of 2007). No request has ever been denied!

Currently, an estimated 12,400 children, ages 0-20 years, are diagnosed with a form of cancer in the United States . With diagnosis comes the challenge to provide financially for the family. In order to provide constant care for their child, parents frequently lose or quit their jobs. The money Heroes for Children donates directly to families helps relieve some of the strain and stress during this difficult time in their lives. Whether it is to pay a medical bill, buy gas for the frequent trips to the hospital, or keep a family from having their electricity turned off, Heroes for Children is committed to helping families. There is no other organization that provides such versatility when it comes to financially assisting families.

A social worker at a Texas children's hospital said, "The impact of the aid and the hope that you have instilled in these families cannot be measured." With your help, Heroes for Children can continue to assist these families and make a difference in our community.

Houston Charities

of Houston

Star of Hope Mission is a Houston based charity, founded in 1907, that is fueled and operated through the love and caring hearts of the Greater Houston Community. As a Christ-centered organization, Star of Hope assists more than 900 men, women, and children every day with food, clothing, shelter, Christian care and structured recovery programs.

Through Emergency Shelters and Transitional Living Centers, Star of Hope touches the lives of more than 7,000 different homeless people each year - including over 1,600 children. Star of Hope is dedicated to meeting the needs of homeless men, women and their children by providing aid for positive life changes. They encourage the lives of the homeless through structured programs which focus on spiritual growth, education, employment, life management and recovery from substance abuse.

Whether kids are seeking answers or just acceptance, Young Life is there for them, armed with a desire for fun and the ultimate message of hope.

Child Advocates, Inc., under the national name of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), is a private, nonprofit organization that mobilizes court appointed volunteers to break the vicious cycle of child abuse. Child Advocates has served for more than 20 years as a leader in applying volunteer manpower to ensure that abused children involved in the children’s protective system have someone designated to speak on their behalf.

Since 1984, Child Advocates has provided life-saving advocacy for more than 13,500 of Houston’s most severely abused children. In 2006, court appointed advocate volunteers contributed 48,326 hours making a difference in the lives of abused children.

With our current staff, financial and volunteer resources, we can serve less than half of the children who need us. Our vision is to provide a volunteer for every child who needs one.

San Antonio Charities

of San Antonio

of San Antonio, Texas

Child Advocates San Antonio recruits, trains and supervises volunteers to speak on behalf of abused and neglected children who have been removed from their homes. It was established by the San Antonio Section of the National Council of Jewish Women in 1984.

A Child Advocate is appointed by a judge to be an independent voice in court for an abused or neglected child. The Advocate provides the judge with a carefully researched background of the child to help the court make a sound decision about the child’s future.

The Advocate must determine if it is in the best interest of the child to live with the parent(s), remain in foster care, or be freed for permanent adoption. The Advocate makes a recommendation about placement to the court, and follows through until the case is permanently resolved. Advocates work closely with, but independent of, Child Protective Services (CPS) and attorneys. The role of the Advocate is:

- To be a fact-finder for the judge.

- To speak for the child in court, representing the child’s best interest.

- To continue to act as a “watchdog” for the child during the life of the case, ensuring that the child’s needs are met and the case is resolved swiftly and appropriately.

Whether kids are seeking answers or just acceptance, Young Life is there for them, armed with a desire for fun and the ultimate message of hope.

The Ronald McDonald House is a home-away-from home where families can stay while their children are being treated at San Antonio’s various Medical Centers. On May 6, 1985, the first Ronald McDonald House opened in San Antonio and expanded to a 20 family home in 1991. On May 4, 1998, we became the sixth city in the United States to open the doors to a second 20 family “home that love built.” On January 10, 2002 our third House was opened with accommodation for 10 families. This home is the first worldwide to be located within a hospital.

Why is it needed?
Often a child with a diagnosed disease lives far from the hospital. This creates an especially stressful situation for parents, as they must cope not only with a seriously ill child, but also with the burden of being away from home for days, weeks, and sometimes months.

Before the Ronald McDonald House, the only lodging alternatives were lonely and expensive hotel rooms, or hospital cots. Finding themselves in a strange city, away from the crucial support of friends and relatives, many parents found this to be a desperately unhappy experience– at a time when their child most needed their strength, and encouragement.

The Ronald McDonald House is a home for these families. The House gives them a place where they can break away from the hospital, yet be available at a moment’s notice. Just as important, it is a place where parents can meet and talk with other families who are experiencing some of the same fears and concerns, and establish a mutual support system so critically needed at this time.