Arlington Gives! and North Texas Giving Day Fruitful For the City’s Nonprofits

By Lindsey Perkins Wade

Posted on September 18, 2015, September 18, 2015

North Texas Giving Day, an annual online giving event, helped 2,022 nonprofits in the metroplex raise a total of $33.1 million on Sept. 17, 2015. It is the largest amount donated in the seven-year history of the event and the largest amount contributed in the history of any "giving day" in the nation.

The one-day event, coordinated by Communities Foundation of Texas, encourages North Texans to make charitable contributions to nonprofit organizations of their choice. All contributions made from 6 a.m. to midnight are partially matched by Communities Foundation, helping contributors' dollars go farther.

To support the qualified Arlington-based nonprofits participating in the event, the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation awarded $51,000 in bonus grants throughout the day and hosted the Arlington Gives! rally during the noon hour at the Levitt Pavilion yesterday. The Foundation handed out five bonus grants at the rally and named the remaining bonus prize recipients on their social media pages later in the day.

Here are the groups that walked away with extra money for their causes from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation:

• Green Oaks School was named the Most Spirited Organization at Arlington Gives! and won $10,000.
• Grace PrepAcademy was randomly selected from the organizations in attendance to receive $5,000.
• Girls Inc. of Tarrant County received $5,000 as the winner of the drawing of organizations that "liked" the ArlingtonTomorrow Foundation Facebook page.
• Pantego Christian Academy received $5,000 for having the most donations during the 6 a.m.-10 a.m. time block.
• Joseph Catholic School earned $5,000 for the most donations during the time period from10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Pantego Christian Academy's Band Booster received $1,000 for being the Most Spirited Band Booster Club.
• The winner of the People's Choice Award, which is a $10,000 donation based on votes from Arlington Gives!rally attendees, was Advocates for Special People, Inc.
• Arlington Classics Academy was awarded two $5,000 grants for garnering the most number of donors during the time block of 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. and again during the hours of 7 p.m. and midnight.

Communities Foundation of Texas has already announced next year's day of giving, so mark your calendars for Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016.