Recently, in celebration of our team and their service to the community, Dallas Capital Bank had the opportunity to give back in support of RISD Academy, an important member of the Richardson Independent School District.
RISD Academy focuses on dynamically teaching and preparing underprivileged students in the critical early learning stages of kindergarten through 6th grade. With 96% of the Academy’s student population coming from economically disadvantaged families living at or below the poverty level, RISD Academy seeks to support and uplift an underserved group of students with programs and a structure designed to improve their education as well as their potential and future. Their unique offerings include free meals and snacks for all students to help sustain growing minds, multilingual teachers to help bridge the language barrier, technology-based learning and a social and emotional learning component to help students with issues they may be facing at home.
On an average day, Academy students wear uniforms. But every Wednesday, students are encouraged to participate in “College Shirt Wednesday,” when they can wear college or university t-shirts in place of the usual uniform. More than a fun break from regular uniforms, College Shirt Wednesday exists to boost the self-esteem of these students as they visualize themselves, and each other, as first-generation college students.
Unfortunately, the majority of the students don't have a college t-shirt to wear. Of this year’s 924 students, only 18 have college tees. With this gap in mind, Dallas Capital Bank stepped in to help. During National Customer Service Week, our employees scoured their closets and put out requests to friends and neighbors for new or gently used college/university t-shirts. In a week, DCB employees gathered a total of 80 college t-shirts for the kids. On top of this donation, Dallas Capital also provided the Academy with a contribution of $2,500 to further help meet the Academy’s needs.
In October, the team had the privilege of visiting the school to drop off the shirts, meeting the staff and presenting the check to the teachers. Meeting the incredible staff and seeing where their life-changing work is being done was heartwarming, gratifying and incredibly inspiring. But the opportunity to help doesn’t end there, for us or our greater Dallas community.
Donations are very important to the Academy’s students as they help support their educational initiatives, as well as improve the overall lives of their students. In addition to college tees (which are always welcome!), RISD Academy has other needs to help support their technology-based learnings and uniform requirements. These needs include:
• Over-ear headphones
• Children’s underwear and socks, especially sizes 4T, 5T, and 6 through 8
Dallas Capital Bank is proud to serve its community every day, whether through great customer service or our philanthropic endeavors. Our work with RISD Academy is just the beginning and we look forward to continuing to support the growing members of our community in their education and future endeavors. For more information about RISD Academy visit schools.risd.org/RISDAcademy.
DCB team speaks with the RISD staff about their efforts and students and presents a check for $2,500.
DCB gathered 80 shirts to help support College Shirt Wednesday at RISD.