‘Park Cities People’ Applauds

Eagle Scout Candidate James McGinnis, who raised more than $5,500 for Juliette Fowler Communities this summer by baking 275 coffee cakes and delivering them throughout the DFW area. McGinnis blew past his original goal of selling 100 coffee cakes. He plans to build a pergola for Juliette Fowler’s residents over Labor Day. He will use his additional funds to add benches and landscaping and will donate any remaining money.

Second-grader Charlotte Norwood, who raised $7,920 in July for the Tabitha Outreach Foundation Academy, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of orphans, widows and the fatherless in southwest Kenya. A generous donor contributed $5,000, and Charlotte raised the remainder at a lemonade stand with help from family and friends. The sweet drink was free to customers, and donations to the Academy were welcome.

1988 Highland Park High School grad Scott McKinnon, who represented Gen X in the current season of MasterChef hosted by Gordon Ramsay on FOX, and who made it to the semi-finals of the Favorite Chef competition presented by Chef Carla Hall. Favorite Chef, which started with over 86,000 contestants from around the world, raised more than $4.7 million for the James Beard Foundation. 

Park Cities financial advisor Victor Olivera, a passionate advocate for financial literacy who took time off from his professional duties in July to educate campers at the Grant Williams Family Foundation’s second annual basketball camp. Olivera, a Morgan Stanley advisor and Global Sports and Entertainment Associate Director, helped bring financial literacy education to the young athletes. He plans to extend his efforts to area schools.