Amarillo Area Foundation's annual Panhandle Gives campaign begins

Brianna Maestas
·6 min read

Every year to support more than 170 area organizations, the Amarillo Area Foundation (AAF) hosts the fundraising campaign, Panhandle Gives.

AAF’s goal for this year's campaign is $3.6 million, which they hope to raise in the nine-day period that the campaign lasts from Monday through Nov. 30.

AAF provides grants and services to strengthen nonprofit organizations and the services they deliver to those here in the Panhandle. The AAF provides grants for organizations that spread across the 126 counties in the region.

“The goal of that is to increase philanthropy and to help, for people to be able to, for organizations that are participating, to make sure that they are able to serve their clients or people they serve in their community,” said Broc Carter, the director of marketing for AAF.

The campaign includes Giving Tuesday (Nov. 30), which is the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving in which people across the world participate in giving to any cause that they support.

Officials with the Amarillo Area Foundation celebrate the news about surpassing its $2 million goal for the fifth annual The Panhandle Gives campaign in 2020.
Officials with the Amarillo Area Foundation celebrate the news about surpassing its $2 million goal for the fifth annual The Panhandle Gives campaign in 2020.

“It is a global movement of generosity, and we wrap our campaign around that, just because we know that people in our area are so generous, ... (it's) just the time of year that people are thinking about giving, so we wanted to create an event that would help the nonprofits,” Carter said.

This year marks the fifth year of the Panhandle Gives campaign.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people that are served by the nonprofits that are a part of Panhandle Gives, anywhere from pets to people and all the places in between — arts community, children's organizations, .... there are all kinds of organizations that participate in the Panhandle Gives," Carter said.

"What makes the Panhandle Gives work is that there are really generous sponsors that we have, and they make the application fund possible. And that’s what really makes Panhandle Gives great," he added.

According to Carter, last year AAF had about $500,000 that amplified every gift given, so every organization received more funding on every gift that they were given during Panhandle Gives.

“That’s why the campaign works, is because the sponsors do that,” Carter said.

This year, the Panhandle Gives campaign will have 175 participating organizations.

According to its website, one hundred percent of all donations raised by the organizations are kept by that organization. In addition, each participating organization that raises at least $250 during the campaign receives a percentage match of the total amount of the Amplification Fund.

Donors are encouraged to drop off checks during the campaign at any Amarillo National Bank location, as well as any Amarillo First Bank Southwest and Happy State Bank location.

“This campaign is our way to improve quality of life for Texas Panhandle residents,” Carter said.

For more information, visit https://www.thepanhandlegives.org/

Panhandle Gives participants

This year's participating organizations include:

  • 100 Club of the Texas Panhandle

  • 7 Star Therapeutic Riding Center

  • A World For Children

  • Acts Community Resource Center

  • Advo Companies, Inc./ Hope to Opportunities Fdn

  • AHF - Amarillo Housing First

  • Alex O'Brien Foundation

  • Alzheimer's Association

  • Amarillo Angels

  • Amarillo Area CASA

  • Amarillo Area Mental Health Consumers/Agape Center

  • Amarillo Area Youth Baseball Foundation

  • Amarillo Art Institute

  • Amarillo Botanical Gardens

  • Amarillo Children's Home

  • Amarillo College Foundation

  • Amarillo Habitat for Humanity, Inc

  • Amarillo Little Theatre

  • Amarillo Museum of Art

  • Amarillo Opera

  • Amarillo Rescue Coalition

  • Amarillo Symphony

  • Amarillo Wesley Community Center

  • Amarillo Youth Choirs, Inc.

  • Andrea Project Inc.

  • Another Chance House

  • Armstrong County Community Fund

  • Armstrong County Museum

  • Barrio Neighborhood Planning Committee

  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hereford

  • Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Texas Panhandle

  • Bridges To Life

  • Bushland Education Foundation

  • Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center

  • Canadian Community Center

  • Care Net Pregnancy Center of Borger

  • Care Net Pregnancy Resource Center of Dumas

  • CASA 69 Inc.

  • CASA of the High Plains

  • Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle

  • CCS Connect Community Services

  • Center City of Amarillo

  • Ceta Canyon Camp & Retreat Center

  • Citadelle Art Museum

  • Colorful Closets of Amarillo Inc.

  • Dallam Hartley Counties Healthcare Foundation

  • Diabetes Foundation of the High Plains

  • Don Harrington Discovery Center

  • Donley County Community Fund

  • Dove Creek Equine Rescue

  • Downtown Women's Center

  • Driskill Halfway House Women's Recovery Center

  • Dumas Downtown Association

  • Eastridge Mission Center

  • Elizabeth Ruth's Home

  • Eveline Rivers Coat Project

  • Eveline's Sunshine Cottage

  • Faith City Mission

  • Family Care Foundation

  • Family Support Services of Amarillo, Inc.

  • FASO (Friends of Aeolian-Skinner Opus 1024)

  • Fill With Hope

  • Friends of AJ Swope

  • Friona Youth Sports

  • Fritch Meals on Wheels

  • Future of Nazareth Fund

  • Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains

  • Golden Spread Council, Boy Scouts of America

  • Good Samaritan Christian Services of Dalhart

  • Gracie's Project

  • GrayCares Living at Home, Inc.

  • Great Plains CASA for Kids

  • Guyon Saunders Resource Center

  • Hands On Amarillo

  • Hansford County Library

  • Harrington Cancer and Health Foundation

  • Heal The City Free Clinic

  • Hereford Sports & Wellness

  • Hidden Falls Ranch

  • High Plains Food Bank

  • High Plains Public Radio

  • High Plains Retreat Center

  • Holy Family Food Pantry

  • Hope Choice

  • Hope Lives Here

  • Hutchinson County United Way

  • Junior Achievement of the High Plains

  • Junior League of Amarillo

  • Kids, Incorporated

  • Life Challenge of Amarillo

  • Living Intentionally Ministries

  • Lollipop Junction

  • Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas

  • Martha's Home

  • Mission 2540

  • Mission Amarillo

  • No Boundaries International

  • Northside Toy Drive

  • O'Loughlin Center & Golden Spread Center

  • Ogallala Commons

  • Opportunity Plan, Inc.

  • Opportunity School

  • P.E.T.S. Clinic of Amarillo

  • Pampa Education Foundation

  • Pampa Meals on Wheels

  • Pampa Senior Citizens, Inc.,

  • Panhandle Breast Health

  • Panhandle Community Services

  • Panhandle Crisis Center

  • Panhandle Fellowship of Christian Athletes

  • Panhandle Independent Living Center

  • Panhandle PBS

  • Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum

  • Parmer County Museum

  • Parmer Paws Animal Outreach Center

  • Pathways Scholarship Program

  • PAWS - Pampa Animal Welfare Society

  • Perryton Rodeo Association Inc

  • Rachel's Little House Day Care

  • Refugee Language Project

  • Refugee Services of Texas

  • River Valley Pioneer Museum

  • RMHC of Amarillo

  • Safe Place Inc

  • Saint Francis Ministries

  • SALAR (St. Anthony Legacy and Redevelopment)

  • Second Chance Animal Rescue

  • Shamrock Veterans Memorial

  • Sharing Hope Ministry

  • Sister-Bear Foundation

  • Snack Pak 4 Kids

  • Spearman Community Fund

  • Spearman Ministerial Alliance

  • Spearman Swim Club

  • Special Olympics Texas

  • Speiro Legacies

  • Square Mile Community Development

  • Stepping Stones Learning Center

  • Storybridge

  • Stratford Area Foundation

  • Stratford ISD Education Foundation

  • Swisher Memorial Hospital Foundation

  • Tascosa Rebel Foundation

  • Texas High Plains Writers

  • Texas Panhandle Centers

  • Texas Panhandle Heritage Foundation

  • Texas Panhandle Independent Futures Foundation

  • Texas Panhandle War Memorial Foundation

  • Texas Ramp Project - Panhandle Area

  • The Bridge Children's Advocacy Center

  • The Education Foundation of Canyon ISD

  • The Hope & Healing Place

  • The Leaders Readers Network

  • The Maverick Boys & Girls Club of Amarillo

  • The OGH Healthcare Foundation

  • the PARC

  • The Salvation Army of Amarillo

  • The Village Birth Education Center

  • The Well Health Center

  • TPAEA/Blank Spaces Murals

  • Tralee Crisis Center for Women, Inc.

  • Tulia United Community Fund

  • Turn Center

  • United Way of Moore County

  • Valleyview Church of the Nazarene

  • We Find in Love

  • Wellington Community Fund

  • West Texas A&M University

  • Wheeler Area Activities Improvement Council

  • Wheeler Historical Museum

  • White Deer-Skellytown Lighthouse Food Pantry

  • Wildcat Bluff Nature Center

  • Window On a Wider World

  • WT Athletics

  • WT- Alumni Association

  • WT- College of Education & Social Sciences

  • WT- College of Engineering

  • WT- College of Nursing and Health Sciences

  • WT- Graduate School

  • WT- Panhandle Plains Historical Museum

  • WT- Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business

  • WT- Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences

  • WT- Student Enrollment, Engagement and Success

  • WT- Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities

  • WTAMU Annual Fund

  • XIT Museum

  • Yellow City Community Outreach

  • Youth Success Project

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo Area Foundation's annual Panhandle Gives campaign begins