Story and photos
by Dwain Hebda

Dorothy Morris, head of the Morris Foundation, may have been born into relatively pedestrian surroundings, but every day after that has been a life less ordinary. 

Morris, longtime philanthropist and patron of the arts, is retiring from the foundation business in 2018, but in her own unique way. Which is to say, the average person probably won’t be able to tell the retired version from the one that’s supported causes far and wide in the state she loves and among the people she counts as her own.

“I am retiring at the end of this year, but I’m not really retiring,” she said. “I’ve been asked to be on a lot of boards and philanthropy and other things, so I’m sure I’m not just going to give it up.”

Morris was born in Hot Spring County and graduated high school in Malvern in 1960. After she and pioneering philanthropist Walter Morris married in Little Rock in 1988, he moved his foundation from New York to Arkansas, and she started to put it to work for causes here. From the very beginning she was a natural.

“I think it’s a lot of that Southern Bible Belt mentality. You know, a lot of the churches, they tithe. I think that’s a lot of it,” she said. Asked if her seemingly endless enthusiasm had anything to do with her success as a fundraiser, she lets out her trademark laugh in peals, like Easter bells tumbling out of a steeple.

“I think that people know me in philanthropy,” she said. “I like to get a bang for my buck. I check everything out. And I think people trust me.” 

Morris’ track record precedes her in most of the things she’s taken on. Through the Morris Foundation, she supported more than 50 nonprofits annually and provided seed money to many organizations for decades. To the tune of millions of dollars, food banks, fine arts, medical research and other causes large and small benefited from her generosity.

“Oh my gosh, can you imagine life without music and art? I mean wouldn’t life be so bland without it?” she said of her favorite and most frequent cause. “It’s educational, it gets people out of themselves and it expands our horizons, and it speaks to our souls.”

Morris leveraged a particular talent for collaboration to bring simple ideas to a profitable next level. With several Hot Springs pals, she co-founded the Hot Springs Giving Circle in 2007 that created a model of targeted giving. A boot-strapped venture if ever there was one, HSGC has awarded more than a half-million dollars since its inception. 

“Don Munro, my fellow philanthropist, he’s a pleasure. We co-founded the Hot Springs Giving Circle around this table right here,” she said. “We wanted to collaborate with others and raise private money that we could use to help our county. So, we did.

“We didn’t know if it was going to work — we couldn’t find any other giving circles that were really working — so we just made up our own rules.”

Morris brought the same curious mix of nonchalance and runaway joy to other ventures in her career. In her stylish Hot Springs home, mementos and numerous awards beckon from bookshelves and display cases. A box of Arkansas crystals, some with the dirt still on them, awaits distribution to guests, watched over from afar by her gleaming Emmy, won for her documentary work. It’s an eclectic, surreal collection to be sure. 

“I’ve been working with AETN for many years, and I’ve done several documentaries,” she said. “The first one I did was ‘Precious Memories, The Vanishing Rural Churches of Arkansas’ — which was quite a beautiful film. It’s still being shown. Then I did ‘City of Visitors’ about Hot Springs and the history of Hot Springs, and it’s still showing. AETN shows them all the time.

“Then ‘Champion Trees’ — they have a new book out on that, and that one really made it big. I’ve got Emmys and all kinds of awards to show for that as a producer.”

As Morris distributes the remaining funds left in the Morris Foundation, she’s already got her eye on new projects and bucket list adventures. She’s looking forward to traveling, but she’s also got a seat on several boards and committees here at home. In October, the Arkansas Sherriff’s Youth Ranch will add its name to the long roster of organizations paying tribute to her longtime support. 

And you never know when a cause will strike her fancy, triggering one of her legendary fundraising house parties where giving has never been so much fun. All in all, not a bad life, she notes, a twinkle in her eye.

“I’m still going to be involved in philanthropy,” she said. “I think I can be more effective because I’ve learned a lot in these 30 years. I just think it’s in my blood. Philanthropy is in my DNA. I’ve been doing it all my life.

“I feel that the coming years are going to be the best years of my life, and I’m reaping the rewards of my lifelong motto: Kindness is never wasted. It really works. And I love my life.”

To purchase tickets to the Arkansas Children’s Award Dinner on Oct. 11, go to youthranches.com/arkansas-childrens-award/.