The Texas Ranger Association Foundation is a nonprofit educational foundation affiliated with the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and the Texas Rangers. Recent news reports concerning another unaffiliated Texas Ranger organization have caused some confusion.
The Association Board has requested that we post the following press release in an effort to clearly differentiate their identity—and that of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco—from the other organization.
PRESS RELEASE
Waco -- The Texas Ranger Association Foundation was created in 1982
for purposes of perpetuating the history of the Texas Rangers, administering
a scholarship program for children of active Rangers and to assist Rangers,
both active and retired, and their families in emergency relief and assistance.
The Ranger Association also assists with expansion, improvements and operations
of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, official historical center
of the Texas Rangers.
Some confusion has been stirred in recent days when a similarly named organization
from Kerrville, the Former Texas Rangers Foundation, announced it had ceased
plans for a center there and was moving to Fredericksburg.
An editorial in the Kerrville Times was critical of the Former Texas Rangers
Foundation for “turning their backs on the city after a decade of fundraising
and nothing more than a sign in the ground to show for it.”
The Texas Ranger Association Foundation, headquartered in Waco, started a program
in 1989 donating seven $500 scholarships, one for each of the Ranger companies,
for a total of $3,500.
By 1994 the program expanded to award scholarships to all college bound children
of active duty Texas Rangers. That year there were 21 receiving the $500 grants.
Over the last five years, an average of 40 children per year were awarded $3,500
each, for an annual grant of $140,000. The students must be full-time equivalents
and meet grade point criteria.
Over the course of a four-year college stint, sons and daughters of Rangers receive
a total of $14,000.
The program is administered by a scholarship committee of TRAF, according to
association chairman Stephen Sikes of Fort Worth.
Each June in Waco, the TRAF sponsors a reunion for retired and active Rangers
and their families and members of the association. More than 500 regularly attend.
Each of the Ranger companies throughout the state, take part
in fund raising for the TRAF programs through golf tournaments, galas
and gifts and contributions from foundations and charities.
All active Rangers participate in TRAF functions, and a captain
from each of the companies serves on the association board.
Byron Johnson, Executive Director of the Texas Ranger Hall
of Fame and Museum, the state-designated historical center
for the Rangers, said, “We have
had a productive partnership with the Texas Ranger Association
Foundation for nearly three decades.
“Together with TRAF we have preserved and published Ranger history and
provided educational programs on this unique heritage to
a worldwide audience.”
A statewide board of 40 members governs TRAF, representing
all Ranger companies, including the headquarters in Austin.
Originally started in
1823 by Stephen F. Austin, The Texas Ranger organization
is the oldest law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in the United
States.
More information may be obtained about TRAF programs and
memberships at 104 Texas Ranger Trail, Waco, TX. 76706 (254-752-1001)
or at kathy@thetexasrangers.com.
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