Humanitarian acts come naturally for Texas country musician and artist Pat Green.
“I just woke up one morning and said, ‘Hey, it’s time to do this,’” Green said.
He sounds casual, yet the work of his nonprofit, the Pat Green Foundation, is nothing of the sort. For the past 12 years, Pat and his wife, jewelry designer and entrepreneur Kori Green, contributed to more than 25 charitable organizations through their foundation.
From donating to the Gladney Center for Adoption, based in Fort Worth, to supporting the Ben Hogan Foundation, which empowers young people through golf, Pat and Kori Green stay focused on philanthropy with local beneficiaries.
Pat Green’s humanitarian works will be recognized at the 14th annual Texas Regional Radio Report’s (T3R) Music & Radio Awards, which takes place March 24 and 25 at Texas Live!, 1650 East Randol Mill Road, Arlington, to recognize Texas country music.
“Most folks that I know, who have been blessed with what my wife and I have been blessed with, it’s just a natural urge, or a natural inclination, to go out there and pay it back or pay it forward,” Green said.
While it’s not a requirement, the T3R Music & Radio Awards looks for artists whose humanitarian acts affect the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area, the award’s home location, said Tami Millspaugh, event coordinator for the T3R Music & Radio Awards.
This year marks the third time T3R hosts the award show at Texas Live! It started in 2010 at the Arlington Music Hall, with about 300 attendees. Last year, the two-day event drew almost 1,500, Millspaugh said.
Since Pat Green Foundation officially started in 2012, the organization has donated over $500,000 to the Gladney Center for Adoption, chief development officer Lisa Schuessler said. The fund goes directly to the center’s adoption programs, counseling center and support services.
Pat and Kori Green care about the community well beyond just Gladney, Schuessler said.
“It has truly been a very long history of them wanting to learn more and to position their foundation to best impact the lives of children,” she said.
If you go
- What: The 14th annual Texas Regional Radio Report’s (T3R) Music & Radio Awards
- When: 7 p.m. Sunday, March 24, for Future Faces Show; 7 p.m. Monday, March 25, for awards show
- Where: Texas Live!, 1650 East Randol Mill Road, Arlington
- Price: $20 for Future Faces general admission; $50 for award general admission
Visit here for more details.
The Pat Green Foundation focuses on the Gladney Center for Adoption because several of the musician’s bandmates and friends were adopted, and their children went on to adopt their own children, Green said.
The nonprofit also looks for “underdog foundations,” which he said don’t necessarily get national attention. It generates funds and raises public awareness by presenting events and golf tournaments.
For Pat Green, golf brings people together in large numbers.
“The easiest vehicle for me is through golf tournaments because I can get four people per team plus their spouses,” he said.
The two-day event will also honor country artist Kevin Fowler with the Icon Award and stage performances by over a dozen country stars, including “The Voice” semifinalist Jordan Rainer. The Texas Regional Radio Group added Latin Grammy winner Sunny Sauceda to the lineup this year to represent Latino music in Texas.
Eight new artists will perform March 24 at the Future Faces Concert, and the audience will vote for the winner to perform at the awards show the following day.
“Eventually, we’d love to be able to get to, like, AT&T (Stadium), you know. Sky’s the limit,” Millspaugh said.
Previous winners of the Humanitarian Award include Texas native Wade Bowen and Randy Rogers. Pat Green’s recognition this year also coincides with his 30th year of being an artist, Millspaugh said.
“If you want to call him a founding father of the current Texas country movement, so to speak, he kind of was,” she said.
Dang Le is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at dang.le@fortworthreport.org or @DangHLe. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details.
