Each year the Food for Thought steering committee honors a local civic leader with the Founders Award for significant contributions of service to our community. Prior award recipients include Daryl “Moose” Johnston, former NFL fullback and FOX game analyst; Ebby Halliday, founder and chairman of Ebby Halliday Real Estates, Inc.; and Jim Keyes, the CEO of Blockbuster, Inc.
2011 Award Recipient
Daryl “Moose” Johnston :: NFL on FOX Game Analyst; former Dallas Cowboys fullback; Chair, SLANT 45
Daryl “Moose” Johnston is recognized as a former National Football League fullback who played his entire career with the Dallas Cowboys. Johnston joined FOX in 2001 after serving a year of duty as a game analyst for the NFL on CBS.
Prior to the NFL, Johnston played football for the University of Syracuse where he earned a degree in economics and was an All-American and All-Big East player in 1988. Following his college career he was a second round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 1989.
Nicknamed “Moose” by former teammate Babe Laufenberg, Johnston became a full-time starter in 1991 and was a key member of the Cowboys’ three Super Bowl winning teams (1993, 1994 and 1996). A two-time Pro Bowl selection (1993 and 1994), Johnston finished his career catching 294 passes for 2,227 yards and 14 touchdowns, as well as 232 rushes for 753 yards and eight touchdowns. He had a career-high, 50 receptions in 1993.
Johnston has contributed his time to many charities including the Special Olympics, Children’s Cancer Fund, Cystic Fibrosis and Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT). He has served as honorary chairman for MDA’s “Aisles of Smiles” campaign, an organization he has served for over ten years, and for the American Cancer Society’s Gunslingers’ Ball. In 1999, Johnston’s numerous community service activities led to his nomination for the prestigious “Whizzer White Humanitarian Award.” From 2009-2011, served as Chairman of SLANT 45: Service Learning Adventures in North Texas, a program designed by Big Thought and the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, to inspire youth to become champions of community service.
2010 Award Recipient
Ebby Halliday :: Founder & Chairman of the Board :: Ebby Halliday Real Estate Inc.
Ebby Halliday is recognized as one of Texas’ most outstanding business women and volunteers. She is respected on local, state, national and international levels for her ability to combine leadership with femininity and business acumen. Ebby has received every honor her fellow REALTORS® can bestow as well as many of the most prestigious business and philanthropic awards.
She has led Ebby Halliday, REALTORS from a one-office business founded in 1945, to a world-renowned 30-office operation–Ebby Halliday Real Estate Inc. Today, the Dallas-based namesake company is the largest independently owned residential real estate services company in Texas and ranked 8th in the nation. The 65-year-old company, with more than 1,600 sales associates, participated in almost 13,000 property transactions in 2009, with a sales volume of almost $3.5 billion.
Ebby has spent her life helping others and works every day to make a difference. She remains deeply involved in community affairs and is a moving force in efforts to better the lifestyle of her city and state.
2009 Award Recipient
Jim Keyes :: CEO & Chairman of the Board :: Blockbuster, Inc.
James W. Keyes is chairman and chief executive officer of Blockbuster Inc. Before joining Blockbuster he was a 21-year veteran of 7-Eleven Inc., the world’s largest chain of convenience stores, where he served as its president and CEO from 2000 until 2005.
Mr. Keyes graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelors degree from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and earned an MBA from Columbia University.
Mr. Keyes serves on numerous civic boards, including the national board of governors of the American Red Cross, the Dallas Center for Performing Arts, The Dallas Symphony Association, the Cooper Institute, the SMU/Cox School of Business and the Dallas Education Foundation. A recipient of the Horatio Alger Award in 2005 and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2008, Keyes was also the founder of the Education is Freedom foundation, which provides college scholarships for hard-working young students.
