For the 2023 Doing The Most Good Luncheon on Thursday, November 16, at the Anatole, it was like a reunion for The Salvation North Texas Major Paul McFarland and the day’s keynote speaker, TV sportscaster James “JB” Brown. As guests like Michal Powell, Shelle Sills, Christie Carter, Shannon Graham, Bela Cooley, Ciara Biggers, Kim Quinn, Ann Dyer, Tiffany Divis and Luncheon Co-Chair Lisa Cooley arrived — all in Salvation Army red — Paul was ebullient in introducing the day’s featured speaker JB to one and all. And JB was game for the intros and the requests for photos. Their relationship would be explained later at The Salvation Army of North Texas fundraiser luncheon.
As the VIP wound down with guests including Pat McEvoy, Michael Faircloth, David Davis, Charlotte Jones, Charlotte Jones, DeeDee Lee, SuSu Meyer, Mary Clare Finney, Debbie Snell, Jill Smith and Nancy Dedman moving into the Chantilly Ballroom, Underwriting Co-Chair Dwight Emanuelson was showing the latest development of the Emanuelsons’ Old Baldy, 4,000-square-foot home… LuAne McWhorter reported she was heading to Atlanta for a weekend with husband Aaron McWhorter and their kids to see her son. With a return on the following Sunday, she was worried about the early birds hitting the skies for a very long Thanksgiving holiday week… Honorary Co-Chair Annette Simmons admitted that her datebook was pretty jammed with all types of birthday celebrations.
The program got underway with children wearing The Salvation Army t-shirts lining up on the stage and singing, to the delight of all the audience.
After the children finished their presentation and exited the stage, there was a momentary lull. It was just long enough that guests looked around, wondering whether it was time to eat or how to proceed. It seems the holdup was due to the fact that St. Michael and All Angel’s Dr. Christopher D. Girata, who was to give the invocation, was MIA backstage. Eventually he was found and the program carried on, with Luncheon Co-Chairs Lisa Cooley and Lisa Singleton welcoming the hundreds of guests and acknowledging their gratitude for the sponsors and for Annette and her daughter Amy Simmons Crafton serving as honorary co-chairs, as Paul and Major Dawn McFarland presented the mother-and-daughter team with gifts of appreciation.
In thanking Underwriting Co-Chairs Claire and Dwight Emanuelson for their help, Lisa C. broke from the script, revealing that Dwight had called in “an hour and half ago with a $25,000 donation that he had just gotten.”
Following the Lisas’ welcome, emcee Meredith Land notified the crowd that, thanks to “a very generous donor, any gift given today will be matched up to $100,000,” before introducing Christopher, who provided the blessing.
As the meal got underway, former First Lady Laura Bush once again demonstrated the graciousness factor. Despite being seated between Gene Jones and Lee Ann White, she rose from her place when Army staffers, along with the onstage kid singers, requested a photo. Unfortunately, Laura hardly had a chance to settle back in her chair before that request ended up being only the first of several.
As the formal program commenced again, Majors Dawn and Paul reminded guests, “As you know, the past few years have been a difficult and challenging time for all of us in North Texas. We’re working hard as ever to help North Texans who are struggling with homelessness, poverty and addiction. We’ve provided emergency and transitional shelter, connected people with supported housing and offered rent and utility assistance in order to keep families in their homes.
“We’ve provided compassionate, Christ-centered care to people working to overcome substance use disorders or who are struggling with mental illness and for those who are seeking refuge from domestic violence. Our out-of-school-time programs have provided enriching educational experiences to children and youth throughout North Texas, giving them a safe place to learn, to play and to grow. We’ve also fed hundreds of thousands of people through our food pantry, where people can receive boxes of nutritious, shelf-stable grocery items.
“We need all of you to expand services that we’re talking about, and the scale and the scope is going to require each and every one. It will also necessitate an investment for our facilities. We’re building an innovative new campus to serve as the flagship for our services in Dallas County, with a host of programs ranging from on-site childcare, to addiction treatment to integrated mental health and behavioral health claims, all in one place. And this new campus will revolutionize the way we care for our community.”
They then introduced a video describing the needs of such a mega-center on four mammoth screens on the front and back walls.
As the screens dimmed, the Lisas were back at the podium saluting the many accomplishments of Annette and Amy.
Emcee Meredith Land then introduced a video with a Salvation Army client named “Crystal,” who provided a testimony to how the Army’s help had dramatically changed not just her life, but her children’s lives as well.
It was followed by Meredith welcoming JB on stage. The only hitch was, he was only shown on the screens on both sides of the stage. The two screens in the back of the ballroom were white with the words “Guest Speaker” in red and “James Brown” in black underneath. As a result, some guests had to twist in their chairs or adjust their chairs to see JB on stage in person or on one of the two front screens.
He briefly shared stories about Gene Jones having him play a joke on husband Jerry Jones; about why he carried lip balm, thanks to Fox colleague Terry “the biggest crack-up in all television” Bradshaw; and why one guest was expecting the Majors to perform a miracle by bringing singer James Brown back from the dead for the luncheon.
Then he went on to say that he ” was extremely excited about coming to speak at this annual luncheon because of Majors Paul and Dawn McFarland, who have played a very important role in my family’s life.”
He went on to explain that there had been five kids in his family, and now “we’re down to three.
“Two of my brothers who were battling the drug demon for years went to The Salvation Army Rehab Center in suburban Maryland previously, before Majors Paul and Dawn were transferred to Tampa and then, of course, here to Dallas. And they were awesome in what they did in helping my brothers to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Major Paul held my brothers accountable. He was no-nonsense, but he displayed the love of Jesus Christ and taught them the word and who they are in Christ Jesus.
“Little was I aware that within about five years after that, my brother John in a halfway home, on the road to wholeness, would die in that halfway house, getting out of his bed and going to his CPAP machine and he was found two days later in the halfway home dead. Yes, it hurt me tremendously.
“My youngest brother Everett has been drug-addicted for 38 years, went to multiple drug treatment programs. Many of them were not with The Salvation Army, but when he ran into Major Paul and Dawn McFarland, they held him accountable. He was on the road. It is a tough and a vicious addiction, to say the least.
“And my brother, when he had to go for treatment here in Dallas, going to Dr. Tony Evans‘ Church who played a significant role, with Majors Paul and Dawn sending him to a place where he finally surrendered to Jesus Christ. He said he wanted to come back to Dallas to give his testimony before his leg was to be amputated, and the doctors were treating him with no less and for no less than about five or six more bitters, he went home to be with the Lord about 12 months ago.
“I know where my brothers are, and that gives me eternal comfort. So, I am beholden to The Salvation Army. Yes, it’s a large organization. Yes, it is great and more. But more importantly, it is of the people who have committed folks there who have one focus, and that is to engage in God-empowered transformations for individuals and society, and they do it all year long…
“We all understand that it is grace through faith that saves us. So, there is no contradiction between faith which The Salvation Army models and action or worse. Because it’s not faith or works, it is a faith that works. And that is exactly what The Salvation Army has been doing — modeling a faith that works…
“I close on this note. My brother who died first, one who died some 12 or 15 years ago, made this home, and Dawn came up to Washington D.C. to do the graveside service for my brother John. And then not long ago, came up to Maryland, where Major Paul gave a sermon, a eulogy like none other to preach about my brother Everett, who said [to me] before he died, ‘James, I’ve seen Jesus and I want to go home to him [now] that I’m free.’ Man, those representatives from The Salvation Army ensured that their mission was fulfilled in my brothers. So, shame on me if I’m not going to go out and do the same, to try to make certain that somebody else who may be in a difficult situation has the same opportunity to know what salvation is about. I thank you. I pray to God for you. And I pray that you’ll join the team. God bless you.”
The room responded with a standing ovation.