The 18-hour event, which wrapped up at midnight Thursday, supported nearly 3,000 organizations, from animal shelters to food banks. Those organizations solicited donations and competed for prizes online.
Nowitzki and his wife, Jessica, were the honorary co-chairs of the event and made multiple appearances to mingle with fans.
“Wow. We did it,” he tweeted early Friday after the final donations rolled in. He seemed to be enjoying the moment.
https://t.co/nWxkob9Z8y pic.twitter.com/OKJ7hNzhgL
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) September 20, 2019
The North Texas Food Bank was one of the event’s biggest beneficiaries. It raised nearly a million dollars, including $150,000 in matching funds from corporations and anonymous donors.
"It’ll go to children, seniors and families in the North Texas area,” said the food bank’s campaign manager, Lexi Kay.
The food bank also won the "Lucky Eleven Golden Ticket," one of dozens of bonus prizes given out throughout the day.
Local public radio station KERA raised nearly $400,000. The fact that this was $50,000 short of its goal didn't worry Andy Canales, who led the station's fundraising effort.
"It was a big milestone for us; we were very excited to get that point," he said.
Many smaller organizations benefited too, including a Denton County animal shelter that raised nearly $100,000.
From the bottom of our hearts THANK YOU for all the support this #NTxGivingDay DASF ended up #1 small nonprofit overall, #1 in Denton County and #4 animal nonprofit! Words cannot describe how grateful we are to be part of such a generous community! pic.twitter.com/hjy75sGsfK
— DASF (@DentonASF) September 20, 2019
This is the event’s 11th year and biggest yet. In total, it’s raised nearly $300 million for North Texas nonprofits. It's put on by The Communities Foundation of Texas, which has distributed nearly $2 billion across North Texas since its founding in the 1950s.
There's one more prize that as of Friday afternoon had yet to be announced. One lucky donor will meet the Nowitzkis in person. For all those who donated over $41: cross your fingers.
