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MySweetCharity Photo Gallery Alert!: 2023 Crystal Charity Ball Fashion Show Cocktail Party
On the eve of the 2023 Crystal Charity Ball Ten Best Dressed Fashion Show, the home of Heidi and Matthew Mazzucchi was the setting for a cocktail party for underwriters and the featured designer himself, Adam Lippes. Thanks to Lippes’ posse including Lippes President Jeannie Yoo and his business partner Alexander Farnsworth and former New Yorkers Neiman Marcus President Ryan Ross with Robbie Kruithoff, the occasion was a fashion-on-my-mind mingling of Big D and the Big Apple.
In keeping with tradition, CCB Hall of Famer/JPMorgan Chase And Co. Dallas Region Chair Elaine Agather sparkled at the front door welcoming nearly 200 guests, including 2023 Hall of Famer Claire Emanuelson and her husband Dwight Emanuelson, the Ten Best Dressed (Marybeth Conlon, Monica Eastin, Libby Hegi, Kim Hext, Meredith Land, Anne McPherson, Wendy Messmann, Kim Quinn, Lisa Rocchio and Sunie Solomon) with the gents in coats and ties and the ladies in Lippes fashions and other unnamed designers.
Luckily, the crowd was so cool that the day’s threat of the ERCOT Grid cratering didn’t bother anyone until they returned outdoors to board their vehicles.
While the coverage of the evening is being finished up, check MySweetCharity Photo Gallery for more fashions and faces of the night.
Our Friends Place Celebrates 35th Anniversary Of Helping Homeless Young Women And Youths
While homelessness seems to have only been on the minds of some in recent years, others like Our Friends Place have been helping “young women and youth experiencing homelessness” for 35 years.
According to Our Friends Place Executive Director Sue Thiers Hesseltine, “Since we opened our doors more than three decades ago, we have served over 4,200 young women and youth experiencing homelessness and poverty in North Texas, equipping them with the confidence and skills needed to break the cycles of abuse, neglect, poverty and homelessness. We are looking forward to another 35 years committed to assisting more young women and youth in need.”
It was back in 1992 that Our Friends Place opened its first transitional living center, thanks to the Beazley Foundation. Not only was it the first of its kind in North Texas, but the nine-bedroom, apartment-style center provided “a solution for young women, who were aging out of group homes, foster care and unsuitable living conditions.”
A second transitional center was opened in 2015. Named after Sister Pauline Mullen, Pauline’s Place provided an opportunity for 18 young women to have a “stable environment where they could focus on school, life skills, career readiness and financial stability.”
The momentum continued with the launch of Soar to Success in 2017, when the non-residential program helped “young people experiencing housing insecurity by working with numerous North Texas schools and organizations.”
To celebrate its programs and its anniversary year, Our Friends Place will hold it annual Gala, Auction and Casino Night with Co-Chair Tricia Buchheit and Monica Rachel, on Saturday, September 30, at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel.
Tickets ironically are going for $350 … as in 35th anniversary.
* Graphic provided by Our Friends Place
CFT CEO/President Wayne White Shares His Gratitude For North Texas Giving Day Donors
According to Communities Foundation of Texas CEO/President Wayne White,
“After tallying up the totals once donations closed at midnight, Communities Foundation of Texas’ 15th annual North Texas Giving Day, presented by Amazon, raised $63.9 million for our community from 97,000 donors. This surpasses last year’s fundraising efforts of $62.6 million raised.
“While nationally, philanthropic giving is down for the first time in years, North Texans have shown that our community’s commitment to giving back and sharing care for the nonprofits that care for us is greater than ever.
“Being new to my role at CFT and having the opportunity to work alongside community members with a steadfast passion to do good, I didn’t think anything could make me more excited to be here in Dallas. But after witnessing firsthand how our region comes together through North Texas Giving Day, I am filled with even more gratitude and hope for the future.
“In its 15-year history, North Texas Giving Day has raised more than $560 million for thousands of nonprofits. Year after year, our team continues to appreciate the significant impact North Texans can make when we come together to support the organizations working to make this region a safer, healthier, and thriving place to call home. We’re extending a thank you to every individual, family, business, and nonprofit involved.
“North Texas Giving Day reminds us that anyone can be a philanthropist. Beyond financial contributions, North Texans pledged volunteer hours, used their talents and skills to serve nonprofits, and creatively used their voices to raise awareness of the good work local organizations are enabling. North Texas Giving Day wouldn’t have the reach and impact it has today without our community of generous givers!
“As I look toward the future of North Texas Giving Day, I’m confident that we’ll continue to come together in big ways to uplift the nonprofits that matter most to us. They certainly need our continued support. Thank you to everyone who was part of North Texas Giving Day. From residents here in our home state, to all 50 states and more than 40 countries world-wide.”
2023 North Texas Giving Day Tops Last Year’s Fundraising With $63M+ Raised For 3,249 Organizations
With minutes to spare, the 2023 North Texas Giving Day surpassed its previous year’s total of $62,565,273, thanks to 97,132 generous donors from near and far. This year, 3,249 organizations will benefit from more than $63,894,583.
For many charities it means expanding programs. For others it simply means keeping the doors open that would have been otherwise shut. But the real beneficiaries of this epic undertaking are the North Texas residents who use the services provided by these non-profits. Whether it’s food banks providing meals to the homebound, art groups showcasing emerging artists or animal shelters rescuing pets from neglect, the good that results from North Texas Giving Day trickles down to touch all who have come to live here.
The mighty 2023 effort came within $2.2M of beating the historic record of $66M set in 2021. But it also means that the fundraiser has provided more than $566M for area non-profits since 2009.
While the Communities Foundation of Texas crew may be exhausted and will probably come in late on Friday, they’ll waste no time preparing for 2024, because the North Texas non-profits need their drive to make a huge difference for good.
* Graphic courtesy of Communities Foundation of Texas
2023 North Texas Giving Day Continues To Drive Leaderboards With Just Six Hours To Go
In just 12 hours North Texans have provided more than $46,469,047 for 3,192 non-profits thanks to 74,051 donors who have provided 197,343 donations for the 2023 North Texas Giving Day juggernaut presented by Amazon.
But the momentum needs to keep going because there are charities still in need to reach their goals and match challenges still a-wanting.
What has been fascinating to watch is the day’s Non-Profit Leaderboards created by Communities Foundation of Texas that help folks see how their favorite non-profits are doing. They’re divided into four groups with ever-changing totals:
- Small Organizations ($250,000 and less) have raised $6,217,277
- Medium Organizations ($250,000 – $999,999) have raised $7,489,475
- Large Organizations ($1M+) have raised $26,483,61
- Schools have raised $8,875,475.
While North Texas Food Bank is leading all currently with 2,692 donors providing $998,385, Westlake Academy Foundation and Cistercian Preparatory School are amazingly hauling in $849,132 and $722,777, respectively.
Even if you’ve donated to your favorite non-profit, you might want to check back on ‘em to see if they need a little extra push.
* Graphics courtesy of Communities Foundation of Texas
Wait-List Alert!: New Friends New Life Silver Anniversary Luncheon
The fall of 2023 is gushing with good, early bird news. The "Sold-Out!" sign has been posted for the New Friends New Life's Silver Anniversary Luncheon. Featuring actress/advocate Kerry Washington on Friday, September 29, at the Hyatt Regency Dallas, the organization's 25th anniversary … Read More...
2023 North Texas Giving Day Is Also Volunteer Raising For 177 Non-Profits As It Passes $35.6K Raised
The Communities Foundation of Texas team is making a complete full-court press for 2023 North Texas Giving Day with everything including radio and TV coverage, special events and, of course, social media. The day of massive fundraising isn’t halfway to its midnight end and the tote board has just … Read More...
2023 North Texas Giving Day’s “Give With A Purpose” Hauls In $20M Before It Even Opens
2023 North Texas Giving Day has gotten off to a great start. When it officially opened this morning at 6 a.m., the early bird giving efforts had already hauled in $20M thanks to 32,000 donors for 2,831 area nonprofits. It had also topped last year’s opening number of $16M. In the past 3½ hours, … Read More...
2023 North Texas Giving Day Kicks Off 18 Hours Of Holy Cow! Fundraising For 3,383 Non-Profits At 6 a.m.
For the past month, MySweetCharity has provided its North Texas Giving Day Booster series featuring 37 area non-profits that will be part of tomorrow’s 2023 North Texas Giving Day. Some were familiar, with new programs to support. Others were little hidden gems working to make the North Texas … Read More...
JUST IN: 2023-2024 La Fiesta De Las Seis Banderas Officially Kicks Off “Celebración De La Costa De España”
This afternoon 2023-2024 La Fiesta De Las Seis Banderas President Kim Quinn, along with La Fiesta Co-Chairs Kay Herring and Courtney Wiles, kicked off plans for the fundraiser at Laura and Wilson Sands’ home. With the house filled with loads of committee members, everything from the theme, the … Read More...
2023 North Texas Giving Day Booster: Frankford Preservation Foundation
According to Frankford Preservation Foundation President Kathy Wells Power, “In 2010, during a careful restoration of the Old Frankford Church in North Dallas, landscape architect Rosa Finsley discovered some native plants in a three-acre field between the historic church and adjacent … Read More...