According to Texans Can Academies Dallas Development Director Felicia Gummi,
We invite you to join us at the annual Texans Can Academies – Dallas Cares for Kids Luncheon honoring Maurine Dickey on Friday, September 20, at 11:00 a.m. at the Belo Mansion.
The Cares for Kids Luncheon is open to the public and annually recognizes individuals who exemplify family and community leadership while benefiting the students at Texans Can’s six Dallas-area campuses. Student speakers will be featured during the luncheon. The luncheon’s honorary co-chairs are Lucy Billingsley and Florence Shapiro. Co-chairs are Mila Perry Jones, Jim Pitts and Mabrie Jackson. Funds raised from the event will go directly to supplying student needs and support for expanding college and career readiness efforts at all six Dallas campuses.
At this year’s luncheon, Maurine Dickey will be recognized for her service the Dallas community, especially to its children. For more than six years, she served as Chairman of the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, an agency devoted to child protection. She was also chair of the Dallas County Child Welfare Board and served on the County Juvenile Board. Maurine is a former Dallas County Commissioner—the only County Commissioner to have served on the Parkland Hospital Board of Managers—has chaired initiatives such as the County’s Clean Air Task Force and the non-profit Prostitute Diversion Initiative while a Commissioner, and has served as Vice President of the Texas High Speed Rail Corporation. Maurine and her husband, Roland Dickey, own Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, a franchise of over 500 restaurants across the country.
Maurine’s passion for helping Texans Can youth is evident each time she visits its campuses. Her understanding of these students’ needs and aspirations comes from her knowledge of Texans Can’s programs and initiatives and through her intentional, personal connections with the students themselves. While Texans Can honors Maurine at the luncheon, guests will have the opportunity to see Texans Can Academies – Dallas through her eyes.
Individual tickets to the luncheon are $150; tables are $1,000; and sponsorship opportunities are available. All proceeds are devoted to providing Texans Can Academies – Dallas students the opportunity to pursue their dreams and to showing them safe passage beyond graduation. Texans Can Academies believes helping these students earn their high school diplomas and moving forward ready for college or a career is critical to breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty and illiteracy.
Texans Can Academies are a unique network of 14 dropout prevention and recovery schools located in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The schools are tuition-free, open enrollment, public high schools of choice serving students who have struggled in a traditional high school setting. With six schools in Dallas, Texans Can Academies currently serves over 2,500 kids who would otherwise not have the chance at a high school diploma or beyond.
To purchase tickets and sponsorships, please contact Felicia Gummi at 214.882.7949 or [email protected]. For more information about the 2019 Dallas Cares for Kids Luncheon, please visit www.TexansCan.org/Event/DallasLuncheon2019.
* Photo provided by Texans Can Academies