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Dallas, TX -
Slated for Saturday, December 16th,
thousands of southern Dallas families will
gather at the Fair Park Automobile Building for
the 19th Annual Christmas in the
Park, which helps meet great needs where
thousands of families struggle every day to
provide basic necessities. Over 44,000 people
were served in 2016 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
host team 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, Ray
Washburne,
President and Managing Director, Highland Park
Village and co-founder of MCrowd Restaurant
Group, and his wife, Heather,
Honorary Chairs; Nita and Cullum Clark,
Chairman of the Board at the S.M. Wright
Foundation and their children,
several co-chairs, along with many of Dallas’
business and community leaders.
One of the highlights is Coats
for Kids, which is a program created by Maddy
McGuire, a Highland Park High School (HPHS)
student. She has been participating with her
parents, Natalie and Mike,
along with her sister Sophie in Christmas
in the Park since she was three years old,
making 2017 her 14th year to volunteer. She also
founded the S. M. Wright Club at HPHS and along
with approximately 50 volunteers, seeks
donations of new warm coats all year long to
give hope and happiness to kids in desperate
need. Funds raised by the club purchase new
Coats for Kids through Burlington Coat
Factory’s community program and HPHS
awards service hours for students. Since Maddie
graduated last spring, her sister, Sophie, has
taken on the leadership of the SM Wright Club at
HPHS.
2017 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, Suzanne
Bock Grishman and Michael Grishman, Tavia and
Clark Hunt, Brooke and Jeff Jackson, Natalie and
Mike McGuire, Chris and Joe
Popolo, Lisa and Jeff Rachor,
Pat and Emmitt Smith, Michael Watson, Jimmy
Westcott, Carrie and John Willding.
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/
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