School's Out
Generous Dallas philanthropist opens lush backyard playground for Recess
The beautiful backyard of the always-philanthropic Faye Briggs served as a posh playground for the second annual Recess event benefiting Dallas Afterschool. Briggs’ backyard resembled a cafeteria, art class, gym, and monkey and hopscotch bars, and guests partook in lots of fun and games — and a few drinks courtesy of Moet Hennessy USA.
Event co-chairs Meredith Camp and Christina Norris helped welcome guests — including Aaron and Jennifer Tobin, Christina and Alan White, Kevin Cotten, Kate Rose Marquez,and Lynn McBee — who dug through a goody-filled sandbox in search of coins redeemable for prizes such as a $1,000 Neiman Marcus 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 and many more organizations.
After playing basketball, hula hooping, and tossing bean bags, attendees recharged with nibbles from chef Christopher Short of Kent Rathbun Catering. He served an assortment of Southern comfort foods such as fried chicken strips, corn dogs, beef sliders, and a macaroni and cheese station.
What kind of a schoolyard event would it be without a good field trip to auction off? Recess sold a seven-day trip to Fiji’s spectacular Turtle Island Resort to the highest bidder. Talk about the coolest kid in school.
The evening raised $225,000 to fund Dallas Afterschool’s important mission to inform, train, support and evaluate afterschool sites that serve low-income youth in the community.