Community Partners of Dallas’ Paige McDaniel and Joanna Clarke cashed in all their lucky chips for the fundraiser’s “Change Is Good” on Sunday, April 24. The event that had earned a reputation of being a total kids’ wonderland with bounce houses, face painting, flip books, hat-making and loads of food was calling Turtle Creek Park its home from 2:30 to 5:30. But area weathercasters’ crystal balls predicted that rain would drench the kids’ fundraiser after two years of being virtual. Luckily, conditions turned just a couple of days before with no rain on the radar.
More luck came into play when an extravaganza of a wedding was held at the Park the night before that had required a glamorama tent with breathtaking floral and crystal chandeliers. Since the tent wasn’t to be removed until Monday, negotiations got underway for CPD to take it over. From just past midnight until Sunday afternoon, the tent and Arlington Hall that had been the scene of the black-tie wedding affair were transformed into a kids’ wonderland with flip books and face painting in the entry, a DJ and grown-up food in the main hall, the terrace hosting a bar and a kids’ buffet, and the big tent. There, all types of prizes were arrayed along the left side wall across the way from a lineup of activities including karate and crafts-making necklaces, fringe vests, paper flowers, princess sashes, flower crowns, Rad Hatter and paper airplanes.
On the left side of the tent, in what once was the “old swimming hole,” was a mega bounce house and a smaller one. On the other side of the tent was a bubble truck that spewed out bubbles of all sizes to the delight of the munchkins and their watching parents.
Adding to the luck factor was the return of Crossfirst Bank as presenting sponsor, and the leadership families that included Co-Chairs Lara and Brian Pryor with their munchkins Jackson and Scarlett and Madison and James Strode with the girls Silvie and Stella, plus Honorary Chair Family Alicia and Alex Haddock with their kids JJ, Lily and Noah.
While the kids made new chapeaus with The Rad Hatter team and other crafts and cookie decorating in the tent, inside Arlington Hall’s formal living room were loads of adults manning commercial coin counters to tally the take from the kids’ gathering of change to support CPD’s mission to “provide what abused children urgently need today to thrive tomorrow.”
The results of children collecting coins to help others were remarkable, with these top coin collectors:
- 1st place — $2,500 hauled in by “The Brinker Kids,” a group of neighborhood kids who worked together to raise money by hosting lemonade stands. The group’s leaders were mom Erin Galyean and her son Graham Galyean.
- 2nd place — $2,439.90 collected by The Gray Girls (Brooke, Cate and Caroline)
- 3rd place — $1,784.18 provided by Trumbull Camp
Largest number of quarters collected: 2,077 quarters handed in by Clara Brown and Meredith Verska
Winners of the t-shirt designing competition really brought out the creative juices with the winners being:
- Front — Cate Gray of The Gray Girls
- Back — Lola Bonfield