Spindletop
Charities, Inc., also known as Spindletop
International, is a 501(c)(3) not for profit
corporation benefiting area youth charities, while promoting goodwill and fellowship
within the oil and gas industry.
Spindletop
receives numerous proposals for funding from various
youth organizations each year. The deadline to be
considered for funding is August 15th of each year.
Spindletop Charities, Inc. is committed to being a leader in charitable giving on behalf of the oil and gas industry. Since 1966, Spindletop has contributed over $11 million to aid programs such as child abuse prevention, pediatric medical research, drug and alcohol abuse prevention and rehabilitation, education and scholarships, residential and treatment centers, and after-school programming. Contributions made by Spindletop to Houston area youth charities are a result of annual fundraising events, including the Spindletop Oilmen's Golf Tournament and the Spindletop Holiday Ball. Based on founder Butch Griffin’s vision, Spindletop donations focus on specific projects and programs that directly serve youth “in need”. Spindletop, does not, however, contribute to operational budgets of charities that would be dependent on Spindletop funds as their major support. Contributions are reviewed by committee and approved by the Spindletop Board of Trustees. The charities listed below, along with links to their websites, are those included as Spindletop beneficiaries in 2006-2010.
Spindletop representatives Constance White and Duane Radtke present a $300,000 check to Children's Assessment Center representatives Susan Wagner, Elaine Stolte, Congressman Ted Poe and Harris County Judge Robert Eckels.
The Children’s Assessment Center (CAC) is a nationally accredited advocacy center committed to providing a professional, compassionate and coordinated approach to the treatment of sexually abused children and their families and to serving as an advocate for all children in the community. Recognizing the need to provide advanced technology interviewing child victims of sexual abuse and assault, Spindletop’s $300,000 grant in 2006 allowed the CAC to convert their analog system to a state-of-the-art digital system for recording interviews in the new “Spindletop Circle of Care” wing. An additional grant in 2007 of $150,000 helped the center complete the digital conversion of their medical interviewing wing.
Founded in 1998, YES Prep Public School is a free, open-enrollment public school system that serves low-income minority students in 6th-12th grade. The ultimate goal of the YES Prep Public School system is to create a critical mass of college educated students who can then return to Houston and bring real change to under-served neighborhoods and communities. YES is the only school in greater Houston to make Newsweek’s list of the Top 100 Public Schools in America and the best public school in Houston, two years in a row! Thanks to a $500,000 grant from Spindletop, the YES North Central campus opened its doors in the fall of 2006. This pledge represents the largest in Spindletop history!
Spindletop representatives Kirby Arceneaux, Constance White, Clarence Cazalot, Lauren Postler and Jeff Gorski attended the “ribbon cutting ceremony” for the newly funded YES North Central campus. Also pictured are YES students Mayra Valle and Karen Sorto with YES Founder & Head of Schools Chris Barbic.
Spindletop representatives Constance White, Duane Radtke, Jack Moore and Mike Weill present the $690,000 check (pledged over 5 years) to the citizens of Brookwood Community during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly constructed Spindletop Greenhouse.
The Brookwood Community is a God-centered educational, residential, and entrepreneurial community for adults with functional disabilities located in Brookshire, Texas, just west of Houston. Mission-spirited teachers work with the Brookwood citizens to provide an environment of supervised independence. Brookwood demonstrates that all people have a contribution to make to society if given the opportunity. A program within Brookwood that demonstrates this excellence in teaching and learning is its horticulture program.
After two years of underwriting the “poinsettia program”, the Spindletop Board of Trustees approved the largest grant in Spindletop’s history by approving a $690,000 pledge to build a new state-of-the-art 24,480 square foot greenhouse. This naturally ventilated “sawtooth” style greenhouse was completed in the summer of 2008, just in time for the citizens of Brookwood to begin growing over 45,000 poinsettias for the Christmas season. This new building has enabled Brookwood’s horticulture program to raise an additional $250,000 annually, which will assist the teaching and service programs provided to Brookwood’s handicapped citizens. “Your grant opens an avenue into the next chapter of Brookwood’s organizational development in several essential ways. First, the opportunity to provide more curriculum and more job opportunities is a prerequisite to increasing the number of men and women we can directly serve at Brookwood…I must confess the joy of imagining a whole set of new faces beaming with the new-found pride and sense of self-worth that comes from being enabled to succeed in legitimate jobs, often for the first time. We are blessed to have a partner with the vision and hear of Spindletop Charities, “– Jim Ging, Brookwood’s Production Operations
Site visits to various youth charities funded by Spindletop International serve to provide Spindletop's trustees, advisory directors, volunteers and other friends a better understanding of the importance and impact Spindletop has on the community. Site visits are held annually in the fall. Photos include visits to: YES Prep North Central, Be An Angel Fund, Inc., Brookwood Community, KIPP SHINE Prep, Small Steps Nurturing Center, Great Expectations, Shriners Hospital for Children, MD Anderson YMCA, Children’s Assessment Center, YES Prep Southeast,The Council on Alcohol and Drugs, and The Center for Hearing and Speech, and Via Colori.
