Grant Impact Stories

S.M. Wright Foundation receives funding from the Pearl Anderson Fund at CFT

The first major gift to the Dallas Community Chest Trust Fund, later Communities Foundation of Texas, came from Pearl C. Anderson, an African-American grocer and physician’s widow. Her gift was a future interest in a prime piece of real estate in downtown Dallas worth $325,000. Growing up in rural Louisiana, Pearl was not allowed to go to the racially segregated school a few miles away, and there was no school for black children. When such a school was finally built, it was the result of a gift from the Rosenwald Fund. Pearl felt that she owed a debt to those who made it possible for her to get an education, and she vowed that she would one day pay it back. Her gift to the Community Chest Trust Fund kept her promise. She asked that the donated funds be used to help "the poor, young people, and other struggling people," regardless of race or religion. Today, we still use the Pearl C. Anderson Fund to honor her wish. Recently, the fund made a grant to the S.M. Wright Foundation’s tutoring center, which provides free, one-on-one tutoring for South Dallas students.

Pictured Above: Ms. Betty Curl has been tutoring children at the South Dallas "Top of the Class" Community Tutoring Center at S.M. Wrightfor over 40 years. Her efforts have helped at-risk students succeed in school. During the 2009 school year, the center provided test-taking practice for standardized tests, and its students passed reading and math tests at a rate of 97 percent and writing tests at a rate of 100 percent.