Debbie Sonberg has a reputation for keeping hope alive. The retired teacher spent the last six of her 30 years in education working with pregnant teens, youth involved in gangs and dropouts.
“I love the troublemakers,” she says. “They are the ones God placed on my heart.”
One day, a fellow teacher stopped by Sonberg's office and gave her a nickname.
“You're a keeper of hope," Sonberg recalls the woman saying to her. “These kids cannot hold on to hope, so you are the keeper of their hope until they can start hoping.’”
The nickname followed her into retirement. As president of the San Angelo Lady Lions Club, Sonberg visited local nonprofits and discovered many well-meaning people were donating items that weren’t needed while staff paid out of pocket for essentials.
“I kept seeing case managers dip into their own purses to buy shoes, to buy food, to buy things that were not in their budget,” Sonberg says. “I just watched that and thought to myself, 'No.’”
What if she took the unessential items and distributed them to organizations that needed them? In 2019, Sonberg put the idea into action, founding Keepers of Hope, a nonprofit that connects nonprofits with surplus resources. The organization fulfills “Hope Requests,” providing baby supplies to hygiene products to help people during their most vulnerable moments. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas employees started volunteering with Keepers of Hope in 2020.
“Our youngest hope request was for a three-hour-old baby boy whose mom was accepted into a sober living facility, and they called me,” Sonberg says. “They told me they had absolutely nothing. So, we do what's called a First Cuddle, and we find a crib, a car seat, diapers and wipes because if that mama knows that baby is taken care of, she can work on her sobriety.”
Keepers of Hope has 80 ambassadors nationwide who mail requested items. For Sonberg, it’s not about the credit.
“I could care less if people know Debbie Sonberg. I could care less if they know the donation came from Keepers of Hope,” Sonberg says. “I just want them to know God loves them and that they matter in his world.”
Sonberg found more solutions as needs arose. She created an emergency food box program after discovering food pantries weren’t always open during crises. BCBSTX employees, including Rose Rangel, a customer service supervisor in San Angelo, step in by holding monthly food and hygiene drives.
“Being blessed and having what I need, I know there's others that are less fortunate, and I want to do as much as I can, even though at times it may be seem too small,” Rangel says. “In the end, every little thing makes a difference.”
BCBSTX encourages employees to volunteer in the communities they serve. Eligible nonprofit organizations can become BCBSTX community partners. For every hour an employee volunteers, BCBSTX donates $20 to the organization.
In 2024, Keepers of Hope was among more than 230 community partner organizations that received a contribution through BCBSTX’s matching dollars program.
“I was totally blown away by the check. I blubbered and I cried,” Sonberg says. “It just felt like the biggest hug from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. I feel like I'm joining arms with them.”
Sonberg wrote a thank-you letter to the volunteers who helped Keepers of Hope receive a $2,000 contribution.
“Because of their donations, I'm going to be able to hug more weary hearts, and the employees here in town need to know the impact they're having on our community,” Sonberg says.
Customer advocates Tasha Crawford-Calder and Susan Kratzenberg are among many employees who volunteer.
“It’s very fulfilling as a human to know that you're making a difference somewhere in the world to someone,” Crawford-Calder says.
“It’s just an hour to you, where maybe you brought in a couple of cans of whatever vegetable they're collecting that month, but $2,000 makes a big difference for a nonprofit,” Kratzenberg says.
In 2024, Keepers of Hope assisted more than 75 community organizations, distributing an estimated $56,000 in donations and about 10,000 pounds of food. BCBSTX employees volunteered more than 270 hours.
Sonberg is excited to continue to keep hope alive with the help of BCBSTX volunteers. Learn more about Keepers of Hope and its mission.
