Residents donated approximately $37 million to more than 2,500 nonprofits Thursday during the 8th annual North Texas Giving Day event.
Nearly
100 Arlington nonprofits were among those who benefited from the annual
fundraising event - receiving $1,042,608 from 4,386 donors. That
exceeds last year's giving totals, where Arlington-based collected just
over $925,000 from about 3,500 donors.
North Texas Giving Day is
an annual 18-hour online giving event, coordinated by the Communities
Foundation of Texas, that is designed to encourage residents to make a
contribution to the nonprofit organization of their choice. All
contributions made between 6 a.m. and midnight on Thursday were matched
in part by the Communities Foundation.
The Arlington Tomorrow
Foundation also worked to help donors' contributions go further. During
its third annual Arlington Gives event, the charitable endowment awarded
$30,000 in bonus grants to six local charities.
Since its creation in 2007, the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation
has awarded nearly $18 million to Arlington nonprofit organizations,
City of Arlington departments and neighborhood groups for projects that
help the public.
An estimated 2,800 people gathered downtown
Thursday at the Levitt Pavilion to show their support for Arlington
nonprofits and enjoy a free Luke Wade concert hosted by the Arlington
Tomorrow Foundation.
As part of Arlington Gives, more than 50
nonprofits set up informational booths along Abram Street in front of
City Hall to let concert goers know more about their work in the
community.
Arlington Charities
offered trays of cookies to visitors who stopped by to learn about the
nonprofit's latest fund-raising effort, which is to collect $30,000 to
replace its walk-in commercial freezer. Because the freezer has been
broken for three months, Arlington Charities hasn't been able to stock
up on perishable foods for thousands of families in need, said Darlene
Rees, Assistant Director.
"The holidays are coming. It's our busiest time of year," Rees said.
Park Row Christian Academy said
donations it received will help keep tuition rates down for its
families. The private school has collected more than $25,000 on Thursday
afternoon, with hours to go before the fundraising event ended.
"We
are one of the best kept secrets in Arlington," said Cindy Nelson, a
school nurse whose daughter Charley attends 6th grade at the private
school.
Volunteers with Queen Esther Outreach
explained how donations to their nonprofit would allow them to continue
providing household supplies, food, diapers and other necessities and
services to low-income families.
"We are trying to go out and
rebuild our community one person at a time. We want to let them know
that no matter where they've been, they can pull themselves up," said
Board Member Carolyn Daniels.
Randy Jordan with the Arlington Master Chorale,
which is one of Arlington's oldest performing arts groups, said his
organization brought in more than $14,000 from donors last year's North
Texas Giving Day.
"This is the biggest donation day of the entire year," Jordan said. "This very day is important to us and all arts groups."