North Texas showed up in a big way Thursday, raising a record-setting $68 million for the Communities Foundation of Texas’ 16th annual North Texas Giving Day, including more than $1.4 million for the North Texas Food Bank.
The charity group announced the results of the event, their largest community investment initiative, in a press release Friday. The amount surpassed last year’s $60 million fundraising total and pushed the event’s all-time amount raised past the $600 million mark.
“We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from the North Texas community for the causes they care about,” Wayne White, CFT president and CEO said in the release. “Individuals, families, and businesses truly showed up for one another.”
Several Dallas athletes became involved with the initiative as “Champions of Giving” tasked with increasing awareness and donations for the event. The group, led by Texas Rangers first baseman and North Texas Giving Day Ambassador Nathaniel Lowe, featured other notable names like Cowboys offensive lineman Zack Martin and former Mavericks guard Rolando Blackman.
All donations received during the initiative support more than 3,000 nonprofit organizations working in over 25 different cause areas across North Texas. The CFT says it is the largest community-wide giving event in the nation.
The CFT divides all organizations into small, medium and large based on their budgets. Among large organizations or those with a budget over $1 million, the North Texas Food Bank led the way, raising nearly $1.4 million from more than 3,200 donors.
SOZO Coalition, a Christian organization that proselytizes to impoverished areas across the world, raised more than $280,000 to lead the way among medium-sized organizations with a budget of less than $1 million but more than $250,000. For organizations with budgets smaller than that, the Thomas Jefferson HS Alumni Legacy Gift Fund led the way with more than $150,000 raised.
