Arlington Nonprofits Raise $2 Million Record Total During 2020 North Texas Giving Day
With the coronavirus pandemic creating even more community need, Arlington residents once again showed strong support for the city’s many hard-working nonprofits through donations made as part of North Texas Giving Day.
In all, a record-breaking $58.8 million was raised through 106,356 donations for nonprofits across North Texas. 8,580 donations totaling $2,020,815 were donated to Arlington nonprofits, exceeding last year's record-setting 7,299 gifts totaling nearly $1.8 million.
During this year’s fundraising event, the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation also sponsored a full day of live-streamed concerts broadcast from the Levitt Pavilion and also awarded $60,000 in grants to Arlington-based nonprofits of all sizes.
North Texas Giving Day is an annual 18-hour online giving event, coordinated by the Communities Foundation of Texas, that encourages residents to make a contribution to the nonprofit organization of their choice. All contributions made between 6 a.m. and midnight on this day are matched in part by the Communities Foundation. Since 2014, the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation has sponsored free community concerts and awarded grants to recognize and highlight Arlington-based nonprofit organizations and to help North Texas Giving Day contributors' dollars go even further.
“Along with our first responders and healthcare workers, local charities are serving the community ensuring vital resources and other crucial community services are available to help those most in need during the COVID-19 pandemic and those groups which our community has depending on for comfort, culture and care,” Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams said.
Grace Preparatory Academy President Chris Parker said the generous donations from the community and the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation help the school provide additional enrichment activities for students, such as field trips, after-school music lessons and athletics.
“North Texas Giving Day has been of the big events we do that brings our Grace Prep community together,” Parker said. “We are a small school, but it gives us a chance to show out our students and families and tell the city about our mission. We are so thankful that the city and the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation has embraced that. We love their support and generosity.”
New Day Arlington is another one of the many nonprofits who value the fundraising power of North Texas Giving Day. The community’s donations during this annual event help New Day continue its mission of providing meals and snacks to Arlington Independent School District students.
“New Day provides weekend food for hungry children. Last year, New Day delivered over 1,000 bags of food to Arlington students each week. We are preparing to serve many more students in the coming school year,” the nonprofit said in a video shared on the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation’s Facebook page. “Volunteers buy, organize, pack and deliver the weekend bags to counselors in over 40 Arlington schools.”
Throughout the day, residents were also invited to enjoy free concerts from Larry Gee, Hannah Kirby and Brad Thompson, Bri Bagwell, Ron Bultongez and Radney Foster. These shows were live-streamed through the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation and the Levitt Pavilion Arlington’s Facebook pages.
In all, the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation has awarded more than $27 million grants to nearly 500 projects and programs since its creation in 2007.
Arlington Tomorrow Foundation Grant Award Recipients
The Arlington Master Chorale received the first $5,000 bonus grant from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation for the highest number of donations received between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Grace Preparatory Academy received the second $5,000 bonus grant from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation for the highest number of donations received between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Levitt Pavilion Arlington received the third $5,000 bonus grant from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation for the highest number of donations received between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
SafeHaven of Tarrant County won the fourth $5,000 bonus grant from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation for the highest number of donations received between 7 p.m. and midnight.
During the final concert, the Sam Houston High School Alumni Association and Jaden Cares were each randomly selected to receive a $5,000 bonus grant from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation. They were selected from a pool of organizations that submitted a short video highlighting their mission. Additionally, all groups that provided a short video and that also operate with an annual budget less than $250,000 will split a $20,000 pool of grants.
Saint Maria Goretti Catholic School was the winner of the People's Choice Award, which is a $10,000 donation from the Gene and Jerry Jones Family Arlington Youth Foundation based on text votes received between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. during the North Texas Giving Day activities.
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