On May 5, Faye Briggs' beautiful backyard became a playground for a grown up version of everyone's favorite school activity, RECESS! The 2nd annual RECESS! benefiting Dallas Afterschool was a huge success, as guests took advantage of the immaculate weather to join Briggs and event co-chairs Meredith Camp and Christina Norris for an evening of fun and games.
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| Leigh Anne Haugh, Kate Rose Marquez, Julie Bagley |
Guests were welcomed to the converted backyard for a recess-themed evening, complete with a Cafeteria, Art Class, Gym, Monkey and Hopscotch Bars with drinks provided by Moet Hennessy USA, and of course, a Sandbox. But this wasn't just any sandbox. Guests dug through the Sandbox, sponsored by Neiman Marcus Sandbox, in search of coins redeemable for prizes such as a $1,000 Neiman's gift card and Waterford crystal. The Sandbox was designed and constructed by students from Color Me Empowered, one of Dallas AfterSchool's partner programs along with Big Thought, Bridge Lacrosse, Circle of Support, Communities in Schools, Dallas Can Academies, Dallas ISD's After School Achievers, City of Dallas Park & Recreation, Family Place, Foundation Communities, Girls on the Run, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, Heart House, Heart of a Warrior, Interfaith Housing Coalition, Jubilee Park, Junior Players, Project Transformation, Rainbow Days, Reader 2 Leaders, R.O.C.K., Voice of Hope, Wesley-Rankin Community Center, Wilkinson Center and YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas.
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| The Sandbox presented by Neiman Marcus |
After playing basketball games, hula hooping, and bean bad tosses, guests could recharge with cuisine from the incomparable Chef Christopher Short of Kent Rathbun Catering, wowing the guests with an assortment of southern comfort foods such as fried chicken strips, Yukon potatoes, corn dogs, beef sliders and a macaroni and cheese station.
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| Aaron and Jennifer Tobin, Christina and Alan White and Kevin Cotten |
Finally, RECESS! could not be complete without a field trip. A 7-day trip to Fiji's spectacular Turtle Island Resort was the featured item of the evening's silent auction. The evening raised a total of $225,000 to fund Dallas Afterschool's important mission and partners.
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| Christina Norris, Taya McDonald, Faye Briggs and Meredith Camp |
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| Amy Turner and Nancy Gopez |
Photo Credits: Kristina Bowman
Dallas Afterschool ensures that afterschool and summer is a time for safe, educationally enriching experiences for our community's disadvantaged youth. Dallas Afterschool provides staff training, coaching, student curriculum, field trips, teaching tools and other resources to 120 free or low-cost afterschool and summer programs. With students spending 80% of waking hours outside of the classroom, it's imperative that out-of-school time inspires students to learn, connects them to their community, and expands their horizons.
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