Children will help feed children from proceeds raised in the first-ever Ride for Kids benefit for Tarrant Area Food Bank. Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price will be the lead rider and honorary chairman for the event, set from 8 a.m. to noon at Stockyards Station, 130 E. Exchange Ave. in Fort Worth. Children riding as individuals or as teams are raising funds from sponsors to benefit kids at the food bank. The Ride for Kids goal is to raise $250,000. Friends, families and co-workers may bicycle, tricycle or stroll in a leisurely, non-competitive ride of up to five miles and/or cheer on their team in the Kids for Kids Relay Race around a one-quarter mile course. Entertainment and special activities for younger children will be provided. To sponsor an individual rider or a team, go to www.tafb.org/donorpages/rideforkids2013. Youth rider registration is $20, or $25 the day of the ride. Adult registration is $30, or $35 the day of the ride. Registration is available at www.tafb.org or call Becky Delaune at 817-332-9177. Prizes for top fundraisers and teams will be new, donated bicycles to children in schools where Tarrant Area Food Bank provides meals for children. The clock is ticking for Tarrant Area Food Bank’s holiday card service. Elves are working until Dec. 6 to address and mail holiday cards that include a recipe by chef Dennis McFarlin of Blue Mesa. All donations from the card service benefit the food bank. See last year’s card at www.tafb.org/holiday-card-service.html.
HOGAN FOUNDATION, TEXAS WESLEYAN PARTNER The Ben Hogan Foundation and Texas Wesleyan University have formed the Ben Hogan Foundation Mentor Scholarship, which will be awarded annually to a candidate from The First Tee of Fort Worth to cover the full cost of tuition, fees and books. The four-year partnership, valued at $400,000, marks the largest privately funded scholarship program at the university. Each organization will cover 50 percent of the cost of the annually renewable scholarship. Candidates will be selected by The First Tee. Two students will be awarded scholarships in the first year of the program, and one recipient will be selected in each of the following years. Mark Kalpakis and Dean Williams, both leaders in the oil and gas industry, will serve as mentors to the first two scholarship recipients.
ALZHEIMER’S CENTER TO HOST SCREENINGS As part of National Memory Screening Day Nov. 19, James L. West Alzheimer’s Center in Fort Worth will offer free, confidential memory screenings from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at its location, 1111 Summit Ave. Qualified health care professionals will administer the screenings – an annual initiative of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America – and provide educational materials about memory concerns, brain health and caregiving. The face-to-face screenings consist of a series of questions and tasks, and take five to 10 minutes to administer. At 11:30 a.m., special guest and nurse practitioner Barbara Harty will speak about the importance of an early diagnosis of memory loss and dementia. For information about National Memory Screening Day at the West Center, call 817-877-1199 or visit www.jameslwest.org or contact the Alzheimer’s Foundation at (toll free) 866-232-8484 or visit www.nationalmemoryscreening.org.
ACH AWARDED SERVICE CONTRACT The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has awarded a tentative contract to ACH Child and Family Services to be the single-source continuum contractor (SSCC) providing foster care and related services in the southwest portion of Region 3, which includes Erath, Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell and Tarrant counties. In January 2010, DFPS began an effort to improve safety, permanency and well-being outcomes for children and youth in Texas foster care. This effort, known as Foster Care Redesign, resulted in recommendations and legislation that will substantially change the way DFPS procures, contracts and pays for foster care services. DFPS will establish contracts with SSCCs in specific geographic areas or “catchment areas.” The SSCC will be responsible for developing and providing a continuum of paid foster care services for all children in the area. For information on Foster Care Redesign, visit the DFPS website at: http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Adoption_and_Foster_Care/About_Foster_Care/redesign.asp
CHRIS KYLE FUND AIDS VETS AT TARLETON The Military Veterans Services Center at Tarleton State University in Stephenville has established the Chris Kyle Veterans Support Fund for the benefit of student veterans. Kyle, a former Tarleton student, was a Navy SEAL and celebrated sniper who devoted himself to veterans’ causes after he left the military. He was slain in February 2013. The support fund, announced Nov. 6, will be financed through private donations and gifts. The Tarleton Area Educational Office Professionals gave $1,000 to start the fund. Chris Kyle’s parents, Wayne and Debi Kyle, were also named to the Military Veterans Services Center Advisory Board. James Verdalis, head of the center, said the fund would be used for personal items, computers for example, that student veterans might need. There are now 420 student veterans attending Tarleton. The center also provides assistance to spouses and dependents of veterans.
RICHARDSON FOUNDATION FUNDS STEM PROGRAM The Sid W. Richardson Foundation in Fort Worth has awarded a $200,000 grant to two University of Texas institutions in the Rio Grande Valley in an effort to cut a deficit of middle and high school math and science teachers in South Texas. The grant was awarded to the UTeach programs at UT Brownsville and UT Pan American. The UTeach project was begun in 2012 by the UT Board of Regents with a five-year, $4 million commitment. Universities implementing UTeach receive support from the UTeach Institute, a nonprofit organization leading national replication efforts. UTeach is a science, technology, engineering and mathematics teacher preparation program aiming to funnel more students into those career fields. The program is designed so that students will complete their degree and secure teacher certification within four years.
Send nonprofit news to Betty Dillard at bdillard@bizpress.net