Philanthropic Business of the Year: Silver Dollar City Attractions

Branson-area theme park Silver Dollar City is known for many things: bearded craftsman, 1880s-themed live entertainment, salt-water taffy and head-turning roller coasters. But many of its visitors who enjoy a tour of its Marvel Cave or the new $10.5 million Outlaw Run coaster might not know about its dedication to its neighbors.

Silver Dollar City General Manager Brad Thomas says the theme park and its employees are committed to helping Branson-area communities and organizations through both time and treasure.

Silver Dollar City Attractions, the Branson-based entity that includes Show Boat Branson Belle and Whitewater, is a division of Herschend Family Entertainment, now based in Atlanta. Members of the Herschend family still live and work in Branson, home to the original theme park for the company that today owns, operates or partners in 26 entertainment, tourism and hospitality properties in 10 states.

 In 2012, Silver Dollar City provided more than $500,000 in donations through its giving programs and other contributions to local charitable organizations. Thomas says its biggest program, Care for Kids, distributed more than $140,000 through the Silver Dollar City foundation last year to each public school district in Stone and Taney counties.

“Every day a kid will go to a local school, and some kid within that building has a physical need,” Thomas says, adding that in some cases teachers and administrators reach into their own wallets. “In other cases, the need may be too great. They may not have the money to buy that child a winter coat or a new pair of running shoes or get the child to a dentist to do dental work that desperately needs to be done.

“Our Care for Kids program is designed to give local school districts money, and then from that money, the school is able to meet the physical needs of those children.”

Thomas says districts fill out an annual accountability checklist that details how the money was spent.

“When they are able to meet those needs, it is easy to hear the stories and start watching some tears flow,” he says.

Silver Dollar City also selects one area school each year to improve through its annual school makeover project, which coordinates more than 150 volunteers from the theme park and community who come together to benefit a local school.

Through its Share it Forward program, Silver Dollar City provides financial scholarships to employees and their children during times of crisis. The company also funds Mary’s Wellhouse, a medical center run by Cox Medical Center Branson that provides medical care for the theme park’s employees.

Also, the Silver Dollar City Foundation underwrote the dining room at the Ronald McDonald House inside Mercy Hospital Springfield as part of its commitment to families in crisis.

Thomas says Silver Dollar City Attractions holds a core value of service to others, and its charitable efforts are an extension of that desire to serve.

Through its Company Match program, Silver Dollar City Attractions donates up to $200 per year for each employee that devotes time to a local nonprofit cause based on the time donated.

 “It isn’t matching the dollars that we give, it is matching the time that we give,” Thomas says. “It’s fun to see what contributions our employees make to the communities and then they get an additional check that they get to give to that organization.”[[In-content Ad]]