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Meadows Foundation gives $73,000 to help Dallas parks
By NEENA SATIJA / The Dallas Morning News

On the heels of proposed deep cuts in the Dallas municipal budget, the Meadows Foundation today announced a $73,000 grant to help supporters of the city's park system corral more private financial help.

The grant, announced this morning at Kidd Springs Recreation Center in Oak Cliff, will enable the Dallas Parks Foundation to hire its first full-time fund-raiser. That person's job will be to seek further grants, donations, and other private sources of revenue, so the city playgrounds, parks, and trails can hold their own as public financing for them dwindles. 

"As you know, the park department is cutting everywhere," said Dallas City Council Member Delia Jasso, whose district includes Kidd Springs. She added: "The possible threat is that some of these things [park facilities] may fall into disrepair and decay." 

The fund-raiser's job will be the first full-time position at the Dallas Parks Foundation, a nonprofit group that is currently run entirely by volunteers. The foundation, according to its website, "is dedicated to preserving, protecting, promoting and enhancing existing Dallas parks..." The foundation, a private entity, is separate from the Dallas Park and Recreation Department, but works closely with it on park improvement projects. 

On Monday, City Manager Mary Suhm presented to the City Council a proposed budget that would cut funding for the Park and Recreation Department to $51 million from the current $65 million. Under Suhm's plan, the city would cut operating hours at recreation centers, lay off about 220 park and recreation workers, and reduce the frequency of mowings and litter pickups. 

Suhm and the council have been struggling to close what was once a projected fiscal deficit of $130 million, the result of declining property values and sales tax collections in the sagging economy. 

Today's announcement marked the second time in recent days that the private sector was called upon to help the cash-strapped city maintain its public functions. Dallas police officials earlier announced that they were seeking private donations to help open a police storefront office near the Dallas Farmers Market and The Bridge, the downtown homeless center. Residents and businesses in the area say a greater police presence is needed to control crime. 

A Public-Private Alliance 

The Dallas Parks Foundation was chartered in 2003 as a private, non-profit corporation to be governed by volunteers and funded by the generous contributions of donors including individuals, families, neighborhoods, businesses, foundations, corporations and public sector partners.

The Dallas Parks Foundation is dedicated to preserving, protecting, promoting and enhancing existing Dallas parks while making a lasting contribution to the city of Dallas and its park system.

Mission Statement: 

The Dallas Parks Foundation was organized in 2004 as a 501 (c) (3), non-profit organization with a mission to achieve a premier citywide system of parks that is sustainable throughout the 21^st century by (1) securing and administering private funds to enhance and maintain parks throughout Dallas, (2) promoting increased public funding for the Dallas park system as a whole, and (3) increasing community stewardship of all parks in Dallas.

Great cities are known for their grand public places and great parks. It is the intention of the Dallas Parks Foundation to work alongside the Dallas Park and Recreation Department and the Dallas Park Board to recover the quality and prestige of the Dallas parks system, regain the confidence and enthusiasm of our citizens and reposition Dallas Parks once again as a recognized state and national leader.