Photography courtesy of North Texas Food Bank.
For more than 10 years, the Jingle Bell Mistletoe Crew has raised over $500,000, providing 1.5 million meals for neighbors facing hunger.
Trevor Godkin, Isabella Dickason, Quinn Graves, and the initiator Stella Wrubel, a senior at Hockaday, spearhead the Mistletoe Crew. Wrubel founded the organization in 2012 at the age of 6, inspired by the devastation following Hurricane Sandy.
Instead of opting for the typical winter lemonade stand, Wrubel chose to cut, decorate, and sell mistletoe. The first bunch sold out in 30 minutes, raising $2,034 in the inaugural year for a check presented to the American Red Cross headquarters in New York City.
In 2014, Wrubel and her friends extended their efforts locally through the North Texas Food Bank. Now, almost a decade later, as high school seniors, the group of teenagers has raised over $500,000 for the NTFB through their annual mistletoe sales.
Photography courtesy of North Texas Food Bank.
“Don’t ever think that you can’t make a difference for your community no matter what age you are,” said North Texas Food Bank President and CEO Trisha Cunningham.
Earlier this month on Dec. 3., hundreds of people gathered in Klyde Warren Park to support the cause and broke the Guinness World Record for most couples kissing under a mistletoe – a record they first set back in 2018.
“Every second of this over 12 years has been fun,” Wrubel said.
Those who are interested in supporting NTFB can still purchase a mistletoe, Dec. 20 through 23rd at various locations.
“It’s really empowering to know anyone can make a difference,” Graves said.
