Carolyn Benavides Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD School Board Trustee We are in the middle of local election season and Carrollton City Limits wanted to show off one of our favorite people within our community. What began as something simple and, in our eye, quick, became much larger than we could imagine. To define Carolyn Benavides in a minute or less video is absolutely impossible. Carolyn is a Carrollton business owner and an effective and successful philanthropist. She leads one of the DFW’s most well-known charitable organizations – the Benavides Family Charity – which serves the underserved in Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Addison, Irving, and Dallas. Benavides is a leader for the CFBISD Educational Foundation and has proudly and benevolently served the foundation for over a decade. She is well known for building cohesiveness in groups and teams. Benavides has fundraised well over $100,000 for CFBISD classrooms, programs, and students in need during her tenure at the CFBISD Educational Foundation.
Benavides is an alum of CFBISD, having earned her diploma from R. L. Turner High School. Her accounting and business operations background has resulted in the ownership of a well-established area restaurant. Benavides and her husband are the proud parents of four sons – all CFBISD alums. She is the quintessential servant leader – she radiates enthusiasm and passion for all of North Texas. Carolyn Benavides’s story started when her family settled down in Carrollton when she was just six months old and has been there ever since. As she grew up in Carrollton, Benavides continuously made an impact on the community in more ways than one, living and working in Carrollton as a businesswoman while also serving on the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD Board of Trustees.
Benavides purchased Joe’s Pizza in 2006 and her son used to feed the homeless after hours as a way to help those in need in the community. “At Thanksgiving, he said ‘Mom, can we pitch in some money and cook these guys turkeys?’ and I said ‘Yes,’” Benavides said. “I started making all my mom’s recipes and the first year at Thanksgiving, we cooked for 250 and fed over 500 and the second year we cooked for 500 and fed over 1,100.” Ever since, the Benavides family has utilized the restaurant as a beacon of light to the community in need, she said. “Supporting the downtown community is important to keep it alive because everyone in the country goes everywhere in the country for this experience,” she said. “You know, you come back, sail through times, stroll the streets, we have candy, we have ice cream, we have boutiques, we have excellent food throughout and everyone down here has a heart of gold and is here to serve you. Just the vibrancy of downtown Carrollton is very important to my mayor, and to our citizens of our community.” Through the Benavides Family Charity, she is helping to provide food and clothing support to around 15,000 people a year who are in need. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, that need went up to 50,000 people.
