Since our formation in August 2014, Denton High Cares has awarded over $120,000 in grants to deserving members of the Denton High School Family. We have made grants for needs including groceries, utility bills, car payments, rent and mortgage payments, travel expenses related to receiving medical treatment, up to and including assisting with a down payment on a mortgage. To preserve our funds and help the greatest number of people that we can, our standard grant limit is $2,000, but the Board of Directors has authorized special fundraising campaigns for larger grants under extraordinary circumstances. The bottom line is this: we will help a deserving applicant in any way that we can. That's why we're here.
Here's what some of our grant recipients have said after receiving their grants from the Foundation.
Thank you so much for your assistance. I feel so honored to have this organization help me and my family. You make me feel so proud to have a group of DHS Alumni give back to their fellow classmates and families. - 2023 Denton High Cares Grant Recipient, Class of '86
As a DHS Cares applicant, my husband fell into several applicable categories: DHS alumni, DHS employee’s spouse, and a child of a DHS alumni. We love this town and chose to raise our children here.
The financial burdens associated with my husband's long term illness were overwhelming and exhausting. Even with the assistance of medical insurance, our lives were drastically affected by the reduced income and the amount of personal care he required as the brain tumor returned. DHS Cares not only offered some financial relief, but gave us the gift of community as we went through this challenging life altering event. I’m proud to be a DHS BRONCO alumni and employee, and hope to be able to pay it forward amongst our Denton family someday. I am truly grateful for my hometown, its value on our community and its dedication to taking care of one another.
Denton High Cares Grant Recipient, June 2015
Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I feel like I will be able to breathe now. It means the world to me. I've never reached out before and the fact that you wouldn't give up on me is so touching. I will pay this forward when I am able. God bless y'all!!
Denton High Cares Grant Recipient, April 2016
I've started this letter several times. Every time I begin, the same thing happens. I think, how in the world can I possibly say how thankful we are? How am I ever going to explain what a miraculous thing God has done? How will I be able to convey how every detail came together in a perfect way? I can't. I never thought of moving back to Texas. We never thought that Dad's Alzheimer's disease would worsen so suddenly. We never in a million years thought that Mom and Dad would have to live separately. Yet, here we are.
Through an amazing set of circumstances, I found myself back in the Dallas area just in time to help with an unfolding crisis. Dad rapidly went from being forgetful and not being able to manage details, to not recognizing Mom and needing 24-hour care. At the same time, it was taking a radical toll on Mom's health. They were living in a remote area away from medical resources, which was making the situation even more difficult and dangerous. My family decided the best solution was for Mom to come live with me, and for professionals to take on the full-time care of Dad. The only problem was I didn't have a place big enough for Mom and my daughter and I to live together. I couldn't afford any higher rent, and a down payment for a house was not an option.
Some dear friends were paying attention and decided to pray about it. They spread the word and also contacted the Denton High School Family Assistance Foundation, founded by some of my classmates, and they agreed to assist.
And now here we are - mother, daughter, and granddaughter - living together and caring for one another in a comfortable and warm home. Dad is 5 minutes away so that Mom can spend plenty of time with him. My office and my daughter's school are both close by as well. The last year was full of hospital stays, grief and uncertainty. Now Mom's health has drastically improved, and slowly the Lord has tended to her grief and brought us all closer together.
Each one of you had a part in God's plan. Because of your generosity, we were able to make a down payment on a home. And we are so very grateful. God planted the seeds in May, and on August 31 we were moving into a home - Amazing!
Denton High Cares Grant Recipient, July 2016
Thank you so much!!! This is amazing. Such a blessing!!!!!! I am crying happy tears! If there is any help you guys need or anything I can do please please let me know. This means the world to me and my kids. God is so good all the time! God bless every one of y'all!
Denton High Cares Grant Recipient, September 2016
I have no words right now. Thank you so much a hundred times over. I am so grateful my hands are shaking because of the joy. I have two puffs of asthma medicine left and I was trying to hold on to it. I didn’t know how I would get my next medication. I am truly blessed by this - thank you from the bottom of my heart. I didn’t put up a tree because I wasn’t able to get my kids anything for Christmas. Thank you to your entire organization!
Denton High Cares Grant Recipient, December 2018
I am blown away! My heart literally skipped (I am hooked to a heart monitor at the hospital) so I know. I am filled with gratitude beyond measure. I'm crying but in a good way. Thank you. Thank you. God bless all of you who help your fellow alumni. I am not sure if you all realize how much you touch people's lives and how much it means that you help them when they're down. Many of us have no family to reach out to (all of mine passed away). Bless each and every one of our very own Bronco's angels.
Merry Christmas!
Denton High Cares Grant Recipient, December 2019
