January-February 2011

Welcome to our new TDCAF Board

Jennifer Vitera

TDCAF Development Director in Austin

The Texas District and County Attorneys Foundation will kick off the New Year with a new Foundation Board. The TDCAA Board of Directors voted on the new Board at the December 1st meeting. The TDCAA Board proposed this idea to the association staff back in March as a way to enhance the foundation’s ability to develop financial support for TDCAA.

Thank you to the Planning Committee for their efforts in strategic planning for the new foundation board: Tom Bridges, Bert Graham, Pete Inman, Helen Jackson, Tom Krampitz, Barry Macha, and Mindy Montford. We are also adding a few new Advisory Committee members; we will list those folks in the next issue of The Texas Prosecutor journal. And thank you to the outgoing TDCAF Board for their leadership and support over the last four years.

We are honored to present the 2011 TDCAF Board of Directors:

From the TDCAA membership

Bobby Bland
Kathy Braddock
John Bradley
David Escamilla
Judge Susan Reed

From the community

Dan Boulware
Tom Bridges
Katherine Cabaniss
Yolanda De Leon
Knox Fitzpatrick
Bert Graham
Russell Hardin, Jr.
Michael J. Hinton
Pete Inman
Helen McDaniel Jackson
Tom Krampitz
Greg Laughlin
Barry Macha
Mindy Montford

Working together to make TDCAF a success

2010 was a very busy and exciting year for the foundation. With your help and the generosity of our fellow Texans, the foundation has accomplished the following in the last year:

  • raised more than $270,000 in support of the foundation (nearly $130,000  in unrestricted funds and over $140,000 in restricted donations);
  • hired a senior appellate attorney, John Stride, and victim services director, Suzanne McDaniel, whose salaries are fully funded by the foundation;
  • secured major support from the Anheuser-Busch Companies to produce the second DWI Summit that recently took place on November 12; and
  • honored former Harris County District Attorney Carol Vance at the third annual Champions for Justice event.

Annual Campaign news

Congratulations to the winners of the 2010 Annual Campaign Fundraising Competition: Thank you to our investigator membership on a job well done. They will receive a reception in their honor at the Investigator School in February along with a special award presentation at the 2011 Annual Criminal & Civil Law Update in September. We are also proud to announce that 100 percent of the Investigator Board participated in this year’s fundraising effort.

Thank you to all of our elected prosecutors, assistant prosecutors, investigators, key personnel, and victim assistance coordinators who participated in this year’s Annual Campaign.

We also thank the Bee, Hidalgo, and Williamson County DA’s Offices for 100-percent support to the 2010 Annual Campaign.

Spotlight on latest fundraising effort

As we look to 2011, there are many more opportunities for the foundation to enrich the training and educational resources for TDCAA members through publications, seminars, and more. In each issue we will feature an area the foundation is looking to support in the near future. We ask that you please think about organizations and people in your community who might have an interest in partnering with the foundation.

DV ­training

Sometime in 2012, TDCAA will host a three-day seminar targeting the unique role of prosecutors’ office personnel in combating domestic violence. Domestic violence crimes affect all prosecutors—misdemeanor- and felony-level, rural and urban. Information in this seminar is aimed at prosecutors, investigators, and victim assistance coordinators to help them effectively investigate and prosecute domestic violence crimes as well as more compassionately and effectively provide assistance and information to victims. TDCAF is reaching out to individuals, corporations and foundations to support the Domestic Violence Training Program. For more information on how you can help, please contact me at [email protected].

Thanks to our DWI Summit supporters

One more round of thanks to the sponsors and donors of our DWI Summit. We raised $25,000 in support of this year’s satellite-broadcast training on November 12.
    Thanks so much to the following companies:

Host and partner:the Anheuser-Busch Companies

Presenting sponsor: Smart Start

Designated Driver sponsor: Recovery Healthcare Corporation

Life Saver sponsors: LifeSafer Interlock and The USAA Foundation

Injury Prevention sponsors: Graham Brothers Entertainment, Del Sol Foods, and Western National Bank

Donors: Germania Insurance and H&H Machine Service