Communities Foundation of Texas receives many outstanding grant requests for projects and programs that would improve lives in our community, but which cannot be approved because discretionary funds are not available. CFT encourages donors and advisors to consider the following requests that were not funded at the November 2007 meeting of the Grants Distribution Committee. If you want to know more or to recommend a grant from your donor-advised fund, please contact our grants department at 214.750.4222 or by e-mail at jcook@cftexas.org.

• American Red Cross sought $38,548 to purchase 24 laptops, software and accessories to enable the organization to process huge volumes of client data, track shelter populations, respond to phone and Internet pleas for assistance and offers of help, and issue client financial assistance. 
• Boys Scouts of America requested $25,000 to support the ScoutReach program, which is designed for youth who are socially and economically disadvantaged and need special forms of support in order to be prepared for adulthood.
• CareFlite asked for $100,000 toward the $500,000 acquisition cost of a new facility that contains 6,000 square feet of administrative space and an additional 2,600 square feet of hangar space.
• Catholic Charities of Dallas sought $180,000 over two years to procure and implement a client tracking database system and to hire an information technology manager to oversee the project.
• Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art requested $30,000 to publish an exhibition catalog, Quilt Mania II, for an exhibit of quilts from around the world on display at the Crow Museum from Sept. 26, 2008, through April 1, 2009.
• Dallas Contemporary asked for $100,000 over two years toward financing and improving the organization’s new facility near the west end of the Design District.
• The da Vinci School sought $100,000 toward construction of a new campus that will extend the school’s early childhood education to all families across the socio-economic spectrum through parenting education programs and use the new buildings’ LEED-certifications to enhance the science curriculum.
• Friends of Classical Music requested $6,600 for the cost of one of the organization’s four concerts during the 2008-2009 season.
• Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas asked for $12,000 to grant “wishes” for two courageous children battling a life-threatening medical condition.
• Retina Foundation of the Southwest sought $67,500 to fund the second phase of free screenings among low- to mid-income seniors with age-related macular degeneration.
• Undermain Theatre requested $21,194 to secure a state-of-the-art sound system to ensure the best quality of live music during theater productions.
• University of Texas at Dallas asked for $135,960 to provide seed funding to design and launch the Center on New Evidence for Communication Treatments based at the UT Dallas Callier Center.
• Vickery Meadow Management Corp. sought $10,000 to purchase 500 uniforms and 275 lightweight jackets for the children and youth of the Vickery Meadows area for the 2008-2009 academic year.