T. Boone Pickens Foundation

MAY 03, 2011

STILLWATER, Oklahoma - The Cherokee Nation Foundation has become the first Native American Nation to endow a scholarship at Oklahoma State University.

The foundation and OSU announced Tuesday, a gift of $333,334 to Oklahoma State University to endow Cherokee Nation Foundation scholarships as part of Branding Success: The Campaign for Oklahoma State University.

With a match from entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens, under the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match, the gift will total $1 million.
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FEBRUARY 19, 2011

Students tried out their nursing skills on robotic patients Friday as Texas Woman's University held its grand opening for its new health science institute, named for Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens.
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Find out more
about some
of the organizations
and agencies
that the
T. Boone Pickens
Foundation supports:

SPOTLIGHT

The T. Boone Pickens Foundation focuses grants to organizations that operate in its core giving categories (see “About TBPF”). The current partner spotlight is Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas (BBBSNT), a volunteer organization that provides children support, guidance, friendship and fun by matching them to adult role models.

The agency’s mission is to enrich, encourage, and empower children to reach their highest potential through safe, positive mentoring relationships. As the oldest, largest, and most effective youth mentoring organization in the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters has proven successful with direct, measurable, and lasting impact on the children it serves.

The T. Boone Pickens Foundation awarded BBBSNT $2 million for its Campaign for Children in Crisis, which is seeking to match 15,000 children — or 10 percent of the 150,000 at-risk children in the North Texas area — to mentors, implement new programs, and establish a new headquarters for the local agency.

“Helping at-risk youth is an important part of the Foundation’s mission,” Mr. Pickens says. “Big Brother Big Sisters perform an integral role in matching these youth with role models that can help them envision and build a future.”

The North Texas chapter was recognized as the organization’s “2007 Agency of the Year” from among the more than 450 Big Brother Big Sister agencies throughout the nation. BBBSNT, founded in 1927, has mentored more than 100,000 children throughout North Texas. In 2006, the agency set a national Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) record by providing mentors to more than 6,000 children in a single year to become the largest Big Brothers Big Sisters agency in the nation.

“We are honored that Mr. Pickens has chosen to invest in our organization so generously,” says BBBSNT chief executive officer Charles Pierson. “His $2 million donation reflections his dedication to youth and the educational development of children, as well as the significant and positive impact our organization makes in the lives of at-risk children through mentoring.”

Providing mentors to more children was the primary goal when independent BBBS agencies with offices in Dallas County, Tarrant County, Denton County and Grayson County merged to form a 17-county service area in 2003. At the close of 2006, the agency provided mentors to 6,054 kids in 25 counties.

For more information about Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas, call 214-887-BIGS or visit www.bbbsnt.org.