There are hundreds of children…no, make that thousands of children…who went to sleep on Tuesday, April 12, never having heard of a gal from Andrews, Texas, by the name of Michal Powell or an organization called Crystal Charity Ball.
That’s just peachy keen for the 2015 CCB Chair Michal and her gall-gal committee of 99. For a little over a year, they made calls, hand delivered contracts and championed the cases for Dallas children to net a record-breaking $6.5M.
Some of that money would go to healthcare, ranging from sexual abuse to hearing and sight challenges. Other funds would assist homeless and hungry kids and those working through the challenges of autism.
But on this evening, it was Christmas with Michal and her team including Underwriting chair Tucker Enthoven presenting the real-thing checks to the 11 recipients thanks to host Westwood Trust Senior VP Gregg Ballew. Among the crowd of more-than-smiley recipients and guests were Dave Woodyard, Ola Fojtasek, Robyn Flatt, Cara French, Sandra Session-Robertson, Bob Sweeney, Elizabeth Gambrell, Tom Turnage, Pam Busbee, Ona Foster, Daffan Nettle, Dr. Tom Campbell, Beth Thoele, Michael Craven, Margaret Hancock, Kimberly Williams, Anne Reeder, Doug Adkins, Tricia George, Tom Black, Mary Martha Pickens, Jan McAuley, Fredye Factor, Pat McEvoy, Vinnie Reuben, Leslie Diers, Mary Clare Finney, Susan Farris, Barbara Stuart and 2016 CCB Chair Christie Carter.
Here is a breakdown of how the checks were distributed:
- Catholic Charities of Dallas — $575,000 for the School Readiness Program
- Dallas Children’s Theater — $564,400 for Sensory-Friendly Performances and Classes
- Dallas Life — $546,919 for the Kids Life Program
- Dallas Services — $646,064 for the Vision for Children Program
- Family Compass — $600,000 for the Healthy Families Program
- Foundation for the Callier Center for Communication Disorders — $630,000 for The Pediatric Hearing Aid Project
- H.I.S. BridgeBuilders — $539,450 for the Crossover Athletics Program
- Interfaith Housing Coalition — $500,000 for the Childcare and Youth Services Center
- Mary Crowley Cancer Research Centers —$500,000 for Ewing’s Sarcoma Pediatric Cancer Research Program
- North Texas Food Bank — $750,000 for the Food 4 Kids Backpack Program
- Texas Health Resources Foundation — $459,124 for the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program
Wanna bet what the first thing the 11 recipients did the next morning? Deliver the checks to their banks, of course. The second thing was to put that money to work.