Thursday, November 2, 2017

SAFE's Strong Start Program's Comprehensive Services


Christine Messina is the owner of Austin, Texas' The Candy Jar, a boutique that offers a variety of sweets and party services. In addition to running her business, Christine Messina supports Austin-based nonprofits including Stop Abuse For Everyone (SAFE). 

The result of a merger between SafePlace and Austin Children's Shelter, SAFE works alongside community partners to provide comprehensive services to people who have experienced domestic violence and sexual assault as well as children impacted by any form of abuse. Among other programs aimed at improving the lives and well-being of children, SAFE operates Strong Start, a program that seeks to foster resiliency in children through parent-based education.

Strong Start is strictly for parents of children under 5 years old who might be under incredible stress. While the main focus of the program is to teach parents how to positively influence their children and decrease challenging behaviors, Strong Start also includes an early childhood therapeutic element in which children and parents participate in on-site classroom sessions and at-home visits. The main topics discussed in these visits are problem solving, social development education, and communication strategies. Strong Start also provides mental health and crisis intervention services.

Monday, October 16, 2017

ACS Merges with SafePlace to Create SAFE


Christine Messina is the owner of The Candy Jar at the Hill Country Galleria in Austin, Texas. Beyond her responsibilities at the candy and confectionary shop, Christine Messina supports community organizations and charities such as the Austin Children’s Shelter (ACS).

For more than three decades, ACS has provided services to children, young adults, and families who have been impacted by physical abuse, neglect, and various forms of exploitation. The ACS campus in Austin has been used to care for in-need children and help local youth develop the skills necessary to live happy, healthy lives as adults.

After more than half a decade of conversation, ACS has merged with SafePlace, another local trusted human services provider, to create the Stop Abuse for Everyone (SAFE) Alliance. The joint efforts of ACS and SafePlace as SAFE will allow the new organization to better address the wide-ranging effects of violence and abuse. More importantly, the merger represents a strong, continued commitment to eliminating the delays and overall ineffectiveness that can arise when working within various governments’ sometimes fragmented and regulatory-laden frameworks. 

More information about SAFE, including how to donate or volunteer, can be found online at www.safeaustin.org.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Volunteering With SAFE


For the past several years, Christine Messina has served as the owner of The Candy Jar in Austin, Texas. Dedicated to helping her community, Christine Messina supports SafePlace, the Austin Children's Shelter, and SAFE Alliance, a charitable organization that resulted from the merging of SafePlace and Austin Children’s Shelter.

To continue its work toward creating a community without child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence, SAFE relies on the support of individuals in the area. While the organization welcomes donations, volunteering is the best way to provide hands-on support. Dedicated individuals can volunteer with SAFE as an individual or within a group.

Individual volunteers have the option to interact with clients by providing support to survivors when they undergo sexual assault forensic examinations and when they are in court or at the organization’s shelter. This interaction is also possible by working in SAFE’s Strong Start therapeutic classroom, interacting with children at the organization’s residential cottages, and helping at various after-school programs. Individuals can also spend their time helping at staffing booths or providing life skills workshops. These areas involve more limited client interactions.

Meanwhile, group volunteers can donate their time on either an ongoing or one-time basis. Most group volunteer projects are held at either Austin Children’s Shelter or SafePlace and are needed with and without a project budget.

Monday, August 7, 2017

Jelly Belly and Krispy Kreme Create Donut-Flavored Jelly Beans


Since 2013, Christine Messina has been the owner and operator of The Candy Jar, a sweets shop in Austin, Texas. Under her leadership, the shop hosts birthday parties, creates custom gift baskets, and serves as a one-stop shop for candy and chocolates. One of the many candies Christine Messina offers at her Austin shop is Jelly Belly jelly beans.

Recently, Jelly Belly and Krispy Kreme announced that they are collaborating to create a new jelly bean mix inspired by some of the donut chain’s most popular flavors. The mix consists of five new flavors created to match Krispy Kreme’s glazed, glazed blueberry cake, cinnamon-apple, strawberry iced, and chocolate iced donuts.

According to the Huffington Post, most of the jelly bean flavors match their respective donut flavors well. The new mix ranges in price, starting at about $3.

Thursday, July 20, 2017

A Shop for Sweets and Events in Austin


An accomplished entrepreneur, Christine Messina is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where she focused on business and marketing. For several years, Christine Messina has served as the owner of The Candy Jar, a candy and chocolate boutique located in the Hill Country Galleria in Austin.

The Candy Jar offers a wide selection of candies, chocolates, and sodas, with more than 2,000 products in total. Sweets enthusiasts can sign up for membership in the Sugar Rush Club, which includes deliveries from once to 12 times a year of a custom candy package to any location in the United States.

The Candy Jar also features a Parlor Room for hosting events. Parents can make reservations for birthday parties, and the company will decorate the room in one of four themes: tea party, custom character, mad science, or candy craft and games. The Candy Jar also accommodates private parties for groups such as nonprofits, book clubs, and executive teams. Customers can choose to have their own venues catered by The Candy Jar as well.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Haribo - Leading Gummy Bear Producer Plans US Expansion


Christine Messina is an Austin, Texas-based business owner who guides The Candy Jar at the Hill Country Galleria, a popular stop for sweets lovers of all ages. Among the bulk offerings Christine Messina offers Austin customers are Jelly Bellies, as well as Haribo and Trolli gummies. Known for its pioneering Gold Bear, Haribo was founded in 1920 in Bonn, Germany. The brand takes its name from an abbreviation of the founder Hans Riegel’s name and the city in which the company emerged. 

Having maintained a US sales operation since 1982, the company is preeminent in the gummy bear segment and has also achieved recognition as the country’s fastest growing confectionery enterprise. Reflecting the worldwide popularity of its products, which include gummy cola, frogs, Smurfs, peaches, and rattlesnakes, Haribo recently announced its plan to build a factory in Wisconsin.

To be completed in 2020, the $242 million factory will add 400 American jobs and produce quality gummies that live up to the standards of excellence set in place by the German operation.

Monday, April 17, 2017

Snowballs vs. Snowcones



Christine Messina is the owner of The Candy Jar, a candy boutique located in the Hill Country Galleria in Austin, Texas. Originally from Coral Springs, Florida, Christine Messina pursued a degree in marketing from the University of Texas. The Candy Jar offers a wide variety of sweets to its patrons including artisan chocolates, retro treats, confections, and other delicacies. And on a hot day, customers can visit The Candy Jar for a delicious, New Orleans-style snowball.

New Orleans-style snowballs are much more than the typical, run of the mill snow cones. A snow cone is usually made with chunky, coarse, crushed ice. A snowball, on the other hand, is made of lightly shaved ice, giving it a fluffy, snow-like texture. Before the invention of electric ice shaving machines in the 1930s, the ice in snowballs was shaved by hand. 

Another feature of snowballs is the specialty homemade syrups and flavors that each stand develops. Instead of a myriad of preservative laden sugary syrups, most snowball stands use pure cane sugar, natural flavorings, and water to make their snowballs unique. Some stands use fruit juice, and others infuse ice cream or sweetened condensed milk into their snowballs. One stand even offers a popcorn flavored version to its customers.