Gala raises funds to support nonprofit’s education initiative 

Hope’s Gate, a Wylie-based nonprofit, hosted its 5th annual “Hope Under the Stars” event Saturday, Oct. 5, in Olde City Park in downtown Wylie. Approximately 130 guests gathered to support the nonprofit’s education initiative. Sonia Duggan/The Wylie News

Olde City Park in downtown Wylie became an elegant backdrop for the fifth annual “Hope Under the Stars” on Saturday, Oct. 5, as approximately 130 guests gathered to support Hope’s Gate. 

The nonprofit, dedicated to helping orphans, human trafficking victims and the world’s most vulnerable, raised funds to support its local artisans in India, Uganda, and Thailand, while also awarding scholarships in partnership with the Wylie Education Foundation.

Under the park’s pavilion, guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and drinks while bidding on unique items, including one-of-a-kind artwork, a firepit, a vacation experience and more. 

Hope’s Gate founder Patty Bauman, introduced by emcee Keith Spurgin, pastor of New Hope Church, shared the moving story that led her to start the nonprofit. She recounted meeting two sisters in an Indian brothel, sold by their parents to fund another sibling’s wedding, and how their plight stirred her into action.

“And when I met them, I was never the same,” she said “And it really began in me, a wrestling over what can I do about this? Because this just isn’t right.”

Around the same time, Bauman visited a kid’s street shelter in India, noting that an estimated 18 million children live on the streets, often begging or scavenging for food. Over time, Bauman assembled a team and they began teaching rescued girls to make jewelry as a way to provide them with skills and income, which they saved for the time they would leave the shelter when they turned 18.

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