The Dallas Morning News annually picks a “Texan of the Year. In a Christmas Eve editorial, the Morning News has named T. Boone Pickens one of its finalists for the 2008 honor.
The paper points out Boone’s activism in the energy area of which we have all been a part:
“With characteristic enthusiasm, the billionaire launched headlong into his Pickens Plan, which seeks to put wind power onto the national agenda and sharply reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil.”
But it is not just the Pickens Plan which the Morning News points to. It is also Boone’s enormous heart in sharing his wealth with institutions and charities which mean so much to the people they touch.
”Mr. Pickens says he wants to use his money to make a difference. He impressed us last year by announcing a $6 million donation to help revive the low-income Jubilee Park neighborhood near Fair Park.
He also committed $50 million gifts each to UT-Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. For four consecutive years, the Chronicle of Philanthropy has listed him among the nation’s top 50 donors. His total charitable donations top $600 million.
To read the entire editorial, click HERE.
— The Pickens Team