Unlike last year’s Community Partners of Dallas’ Change Is Good, when youngsters and their families were shivering in chilly conditions due to an early cold front, this year’s fundraiser went to the other end of the thermometer. Taking place at NorthPark Center’s Center Garden on Sunday, October 13, it was a sunglasses and sunscreen situation as the temperatures stayed in the lower 90s from 3 to 5 p.m.
But magically the Center Garden had been transformed into a glorious playground thanks to Change Is Good Co-Chair Families Tina Lalangas and Gavin Minnis and their daughters Phoebe Minnis and Tessa Minnis and Maria and Dino Sideris and their youngsters Yioula and Georgia, plus Honorary Chair Family Madison and James Strode with kids Stella Strode, Silvie Strode and Trip Strode with a little help from Community Partners of Dallas President/CEO Joanna Clarke and the NorthPark team Kristen Gibbins and Andrea Nayfa.
In addition to providing a sneak preview of the Pumpkin Patch, mini tents were set up for the DJ, a lot of the face painters, balloon artists and the petting zoo. Two of the favorite spots were in front of a couple of heavy-duty mist coolers, where Gray Schutt set her cape flowing, and in the shady Pumpkin Patch that was a whimsical village complete with wishing well, Gnome Village with adorable cottages suspended from the tree limbs and Harvest House where a couple of fairy ballerinas Harper Sherrard and Stella Stephenson kept cool with fans in hand.
Despite the heat, the families like Marybeth Conlon with her kids Luke Conlon and Quinn Conlon continued to pour in via the doors adjacent to the Breadwinners entrance to a world of miniature putting and Skee Ball games, face painting, balloon artistry, cookie decorating and the always popular hat master Rad Hatter. It was obvious from the youngsters wearing their Change Is Good capes scurrying around all the delights in the garden and competing in the hula-hoop competition, they couldn’t have cared less about the day’s temperatures.
But the haul of the day was the monies raised by the youngsters in the previous weeks, with the winners being:
- Most Online Change Raised – $1,294 by the Gray family (Rathna, Larry, Brooke, Cate and Caroline)
- Most Quarters – $132 in quarters by Eleanor Gary
- 1st Place Change Raiser – $790.69 by the Schmitz family (Mandi, Mac, James and Lucy)
- 2nd Place Change Raiser – $517.45 by Eden Arroyo
- 3rd Place Change Raiser – $493.07 by Molly Losinger
No one headed home empty-handed. The kids all received one-of-a-kind Change Is Good 2024 t-shirts resulting from the design competition which was won by Mandy and Tilly Hinterlong.