The History Behind the HBAA Charitable Fund Scholarship 

My son was the fortunate recipient of a scholarship from the Dallas Bar Association Auxiliary while a student at SMU School of Law. When asked to serve as President of the Charitable Fund in 2003-2004, I thought, “if they can raise the funds to do this, so can we.” I shared my idea with other members, and we requested permission from the Charitable Fund to attempt to raise the money to award a scholarship to a student at one of the Houston Law Schools. The Board approved, and the members of the Executive Board and directors, as well as other interested HBAA members, met to set the parameters for the scholarship. It was decided that the scholarship amount would be $5,000.00, and it would be awarded to a 2L who exhibited academic excellence, financial need, and community involvement. All three requirements must be met for the scholarship to be awarded. A pledge was made that the monies for the scholarship would be raised each year so the scholarship would not drain the funds of the Charitable Fund.  We then began the work of raising the funds, and by participating in a event put on by Macy’s in October 2003 to benefit certain non-profits in Houston and holding a drawing for a beautiful diamond bracelet donated by I. W. Marks at the 2003 Harvest Party, we were successful in raising funds for the first scholarship, which was awarded in 2004 to Brittany Perez of the University of Houston Law Center. 

We continued raising the funds through drawings at the Harvest Party, various other fund-raising activities, and very, very generous individual donations from our members. In 2007, in conjunction with the celebration of the HBAA’s 60th birthday, we raised the funds to award a scholarship to a student at each of the three Houston Law Schools, and we have been so fortunate to be able to continue doing so through the present time. Our goal was helped immensely when then HBAA President, Hazel Donato, presented the idea of having our Chili and Pie Cook-off.  Hazel, Dominique Varner, Greg Griffin, and numerous HBAA volunteers have worked tirelessly since then to make the Cook-off a wild success which funds our scholarships and provides a wonderful venue to socialize with our members, HYLA, and the local judiciary, as well as familiarize the legal society and general public with our scholarships and our scholarship recipients. 

Each recipient of the scholarship has personified the type of individual we were seeking, and we are so very proud of each and every one of them. Many have volunteered at the Cook-off and supported us in so many ways, including helping us find qualified applicants from their schools.  Lindsey Moorhead, the 2010 recipient from South Texas College of Law, has served as our scholarship chair since 2019. 

On behalf of the Charitable Fund and the scholarship recipients, I would like to say a giant  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all those who have volunteered so many hours  of their time and donated so generously year after year so that we could continue our mission of  assisting these wonderful, hardworking, deserving students on their life journey. 



Phyllis Dent November 2021