Christine Messina (Austin)

As the owner of The Candy Jar in Austin, Texas, Christine Messina sells a range of confections and chocolates including a number of locally made, artisan items. The Candy Jar also offers classic New Orleans snowballs in a range of flavors and an array of custom gifts and party favors. Christine Messina rents out The Candy Jar’s spacious and fun-filled Parlor Room for various party and scavenger hunt events. The Candy Jar opened in 2013 with a large grand opening that featured free snowballs and samples of chocolate.

When she isn’t busy with The Candy Jar, Christine Messina supports a range of children’s nonprofits including UNICEF, SafePlace, Austin Children's Shelter, and Houston Children's Charity. She also contributes to the ZACH Theatre, the longest-continuously-running theatre company in the state of Texas. The Austin American-Statesman newspaper recently profiled Ms. Messina’s largely unheralded charitable efforts in an article that called her “a shy but incredibly effective philanthropist.”