The year began with three ganders (Jim Devall, Ashley Hansen & Linda Meik) representing the Texas Pond going to the Grand Nest Convention in Plymouth Michigan. August meeting was the collection of school supplies for Community Partners of Dallas. We collected $554.29 in school supplies.

At the September meeting of the Texas Pond three charities were invited to our meeting to provide an overview of their program. The three charities were:

	Back on My Feet empowers people to overcome their struggles with homelessness and/or addiction through the power of fitness, community, and essential employment & housing resources. Changing old habits, discovering fresh perceptions of self, and transforming their futures. Mitch Williams, Guardian of the Pond has been involved with this group for several years and brought this charity to us. The speaker for Back on My Feet was Bill Turner.
Jim Devall had attended a presentation by this group previously. Jenna Edwards, Development Coordinator provided the presentation on Our Daily Bread.	At Our Daily Bread (ODB), takes pride in being the only 24/7 low-barrier homelessness care center in Denton County. Their commitment to providing comprehensive wraparound services ensures that individuals experiencing homelessness receive the essential support they need to rebuild their lives. Each day, they serve over 700 meals, deliver more than 500 supportive services, and have successfully housed over 50 guests in 2024. Their wide range of services includes basic necessities such as food, shelter, hygiene, and laundry, as well as advanced support like case management, mental health services, legal advocacy, veteran case management, job training programs, wellness support, and housing assistance.
	The Evie Effect was founded in memory of Evie Grace Domingos, who died by suicide at the age of twelve. Her tragic loss inspired her parents, Michael and Jessica Domingos, to create an organization dedicated to promoting mental wellness and suicide prevention. Their mission is to change the public’s perception of mental wellness and suicide by fostering a community of advocacy, awareness, and education. Allie Sharp, Supervisor of the Flock, introduced The Evie Effect, a charity that is very dear and close to her. Jessica Domingos, President and creator of The Evie Effect enlightened us on suicide rate here in Texas.

When all three had spoken the Texas Pond presented each entity with a $1,000 check to assist them with their programs. Rather than vote on just one of the charities to receive extra funds in honor of the upcoming Texas Giving Day, the membership voted to divide the amount between each of them, which meant that an additional amount of $825 was sent to each charity for their program development, resulting in $5,475 in total donations to the three groups.

OTHER DONATION ITEMS/ACTIVITIES

Linda Meik donated cat litter bins and a small dog cage to Our Daily Bread for the residents, who brought their animals to the shelter. Also, she provided them with 25 used, but good condition 1” binders.

The Texas Pond in past years had a “Ball Drop” activity at their annual golf tournament. Due to the coordination and issues that arose from this event, we discontinued this Ball Drop, which left us with over 750 golf balls. We have stored them for the last couple of years, but after reaching out to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, they were excited to accept them for the children’s golf program.

Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children has been a beneficiary of the Texas Pond since 2010, and we have donated a total of $39,709.50. Mandi Valdez from Scottish Rite joined our meeting and accepted this cash donation from our New Year Gala.

The Texas Pond has been a proud supporter of Community Partners of Dallas (CPD) since the 2016-2017 Blue Goose year. We collected toys and items for 50 kiddos; the value of the items came to $1,393.79. The average gift amounts were $27.88.

The Texas Pond’s goal was to fill 75 Easter Baskets for Community Partners of Dallas kids, and the membership surpassed that goal. The Pond filled 86 baskets. The value of this project was estimated to be $1,978.

A table full of great fun for the CDP children – 86 baskets

	On Saturday, September 14th Matt Arnold & Nick Gannon were at White Rock Lake to do some cleanup.
On Saturday, October 19th Matt Arnold & Mitch Williams were at Cane Rosso Dog Rescue helping them with their various needs. Afterwards these two hombres headed for some Mexican food and cool refreshments.
	Mitch Williams and Matt Arnold along with Bill Turner from Back on My Feet spent time reorganizing and taking inventory of Back on My Feet’s storage facility. Afterwards these three hombres went to breakfast at the Original Market

$82,972 in total donations to NTFB North Texas Food Bank distributes donated, purchased and prepared foods through a network of nearly 1,000 feeding programs and 262 Partner Agencies in 13 North Texas counties.

$39,710 in total donations to TSRHC Regardless of a family’s ability to pay for services, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children has treated thousands of children since 1921 for a wide array of orthopedic conditions, sports injuries, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities

$28,003 in total donations to CPDTX Community Partners of Dallas ensures the safety, restores the dignity and inspires hope for more than 20,000 abused and neglected children served by Dallas County Child Protective Services.

$10,375 in total donations to Family Place Since 1978 The Family Place has been empowering victims of family violence by providing safe housing, counseling and skills that create independence while building community engagement and advocating for social change to stop family violence.

$50,500 in scholarships to local students The Texas Pond began awarding scholarships to eligible students of Blue Goose members in 2015. You can find the scholarship guidelines online at www.BlueGooseTX.org.

The Texas Pond for the last two years has offered a Community Service Volunteer opportunity for the membership, whereby the Ganders have volunteered a total 91.5 volunteer hours.

Donations recorded as of 5/15/25