The kick-off for the 18th Annual Christmas in the Park was held recently at Highland Park Village in the Mockingbird Room, hosted by honorary chairs Heather and Ray Washburne.
Supporters and friends, along with community and business leaders gathered together to hear the news about the upcoming event. Slated for Saturday, December 17th, Christmas in the Park hosts thousands of southern Dallas families gather at the Fair Park Automobile Building for this fabulous event which helps meet great needs where thousands of families struggle every day to provide basic necessities. A record of over 44,000 people were served in 2015 with basic necessities like clothes, coats and food while others found toys, bikes and more to help make a child’s Christmas wish come true.
For some, the holiday season is not a time to rejoice, but a period met with hardship, heartache and disappointment. Sponsors, underwriters, volunteers and supporters of Christmas in the Park work every year to make Christmas dreams come true for these families. Everyone is welcome to join in!
Organized by the S.M. Wright Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization providing support and stability to inner-city underprivileged children and less fortunate families in the South Dallas/Fair Park community, Christmas in the Park is perhaps Dallas’ largest holiday charity event, which has grown from serving less than 200 underprivileged kids in 1998 to over 44,000 residents in 2016.
Joining S. M. Wright II, co-founder, President and CEO of the S. M. Wright Foundation will be his mother, co-founder Debra D. Wright, his brother, co-founder The Reverend Calvin Wright, board chair Cullum Clark and his wife Nita with their children, along with many of Dallas’ business and community leaders.
2016 co-chairs are Allie Beth and Pierce Allman, Gina and Ken Betts, Julie and Darren Blanton, Deni and Kevin Bryant, Doug Deason, Ola and Randall Fojtasek, Heather and Todd Furniss, Suzanne Bock Grishman and Michael Grishman, Brooke and Jeff Jackson, Natalie and Mike McGuire, Lisa and Jeff Rachor, Michael Watson, Carrie and John Willding.
Host committee members are Lori and John Alschuler, Susan and Ernest Beecherl, Kathy and Harlan Crow, Michelle and Jason Fraser, Suzanne Bock Grishman and Michael Grishman, Tony Hartl, Mack Hick, Luann Hicks, Chris Lalonde, Larry North.
All of these supporters and their families have long-time traditions of volunteering to disburse toys, food, other necessities and help with managing the event. Over 1,800 volunteers will join to share the holiday season with their families.
The foundation also provides hunger relief, educational support, health, social service assistance and economic empowerment. The foundation’s goals are to move these families from a position of dependency to self-sufficiency and to restore stability to families and the community.
For more information on Christmas in the Park and the S. M. Wright Foundation and how you, your corporation and business can become involved, visit the website at http://www.christmasatfairpark.com/
Photos by Chris Waits.