Amplified Giving Through Service: Ten Years of Family Philanthropy Day

In 2016, Greater Houston Community Foundation kicked off its inaugural Family Philanthropy Day. For 10 years, we’ve hosted this multigenerational volunteer event for families with children ages five or older, offering them an opportunity to volunteer, learn, and give back. The impact of this event continues to be amplified each year, as our young volunteers always show up with energy, compassion, and dedication. They are a reminder that age is not a barrier to making a difference.

Each year, Family Philanthropy Day has a unique focus. From promoting literacy and raising mental health awareness to reducing homelessness or combating food insecurity, our volunteers have worked alongside organizations addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing our community. Continue reading to learn more about the organizations, foundations, and companies who have helped us create meaningful volunteer experiences, and how, this year, we turned up the volume as we celebrated the 10^th Anniversary of Family Philanthropy Day.

A Decade of Action

Over the past ten years, our dedicated volunteers have made a remarkable impact through a wide variety of hands-on service projects that have touched countless lives across our community. From assembling over 600 disaster preparedness kits to packaging food bags and hygiene kits for families and refugees, their efforts have consistently met urgent needs with compassion and care. Volunteers have also contributed to beautifying and organizing spaces—painting walls, building furniture, landscaping gardens, and organizing supply rooms and food pantries—creating welcoming environments for those served.

Our youngest volunteers have brought creativity and joy through projects like creating murals, decorating lunch sacks, and making heartfelt holiday and encouragement cards for children in refugee programs or seniors in need. Community drives have also played a key role, especially during the pandemic, with volunteers donating non-perishable items, hosting book drives, and assembling snack packs for homeless clients.

Partnerships with various organizations have expanded our reach, allowing us to engage even more volunteers in meaningful service. Regardless of the circumstances, our volunteers have shown that small acts of kindness, multiplied over time, can create lasting change.

Partners In Service

Over the last decade, we’ve partnered with over 40 organizations, foundations, and companies to educate, engage, and ignite a passion for giving back to the issues impacting Greater Houston. Through exposure to a variety of organizations and issue areas, these emerging changemakers—our youth volunteers—gain deeper community knowledge while remaining age-appropriate. Just as important, this program helps to build a shared value of service across generations.

Then to Now

Family Philanthropy Day Champions

In 2023, we began inviting our community to help sustain this program—and the response has been extraordinary. With heartfelt gratitude, we thank our generous sponsors, consisting of families and businesses, who have supported this event. Their commitment has fueled meaningful service projects for the next generation of philanthropic leaders.

• Lacey and Matt Goossen
• Kingspoint Insurance Agency, Inc.*
• Sage Sure*
• The Kao Family
• The Laporte Family
• TM2 Family Fund*
• Jennifer & Neil Wizel Family Fund

*Indicates support for two consecutive years.

Youth Leadership Team

For the past several years, the learning experience for Family Philanthropy Day has been thoughtfully curated by our Youth Leadership Team, a cohort of students in grades 7–12 who participate in our Family Giving Circle. The Family Giving Circle provides families and youth with opportunities to learn, volunteer, and grant together in support of the greater Houston community.

Guided by the Youth Leadership Team, members explore the local nonprofit landscape and practice thoughtful, strategic grantmaking. Through this experience, these students develop their values, strengthen independent decision-making skills, deepen their understanding of community needs, and grow as confident, compassionate leaders.

“What’s unique about the Family Giving Circle is that it’s led by teens,” shared Ethan Kao, Family Giving Circle Alum. “We come together, decide on the causes we want to support, and then make a real impact through grants and volunteer activities.” Since 2017, the Family Giving Circle has distributed over $200,000 in grants to almost 50 Houston-area nonprofits working on issues such as youth homelessness, animal rights, veterans, foster care, human trafficking, literacy, food insecurity, and more.

At its core, the Family Giving Circle is about bringing families together to make a difference through collective giving and hands-on service. It goes beyond writing a check—it’s about getting involved, learning about our community, and seeing firsthand how we can all play a role in addressing community needs. Family Philanthropy Day offers the perfect stage for our Youth Leadership Team to demonstrate how their philanthropic expertise has evolved through participating in the program. 

Click here to read about Lily Johnson and her experience as a Family Giving Circle participant.

2025 Family Philanthropy Day

Ready, Set…Amplify!

The 10th Family Philanthropy Day, held at The Health Museum, began with Jennifer Touchet, Vice President of Personal & Family Philanthropy at Greater Houston Community Foundation, with heartfelt words that set the tone for a day of connection, service, and celebration.

This year’s event was significant, marking two major milestones: the Community Foundation’s 30th anniversary and a decade of Family Philanthropy Day. Jennifer reflected on these anniversaries as powerful reminders of the impact families have made through their generosity and commitment to strengthening the Houston community. “As we come together in service,” Jennifer shared, “we honor that legacy, building connections across generations and continuing the work that has shaped Houston for the past 30 years.”  

Toni Wilson, Community Foundation Board member, incoming chair of our Center for Family Philanthropy and alumna of our Next Gen Donor Institute discussed the importance of engaging the next generation in charitable and intentional giving. Toni shared that Family Philanthropy Day is an event her family looks forward to each year, highlighting how it is an opportunity to be together with your family while enriching the community. When parents demonstrate to their children how they prioritize giving back through service, they instill philanthropic values that can endure for generations.

Youth Voice

Cooper Ying, a senior at The Emery/Weiner School and current Family Giving Circle youth leader, and Sebastian Higgins, a freshman at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory and current Family Giving Circle youth leader, joined the stage for a session about the power of youth voices. This session demonstrated how every voice can make a difference—no matter the age. Cooper shared, “Change starts small: one act of kindness, one idea, one voice. And when we come together, we amplify those voices and their impact.”  

They were joined by several impressive youth panelists, Bryan Zhao, Founder & President of Youth Voices for Small Business & senior and at the Awty International School, Madison “Maddie” Petaway, 2020 Youth Poet Laureate and a former member of Meta4 Houston, Sawsan Busari, City of Houston Youth Ambassador and a senior at Elsik High School in Alief, and Michael Antonio, City of Houston Youth Ambassador and a senior at Blanson CTE High School. Each panelist has used their voice to advocate for a change or to communicate about a cause they are passionate about. This session highlighted how every story and every action—no matter the age—can make our community better, kinder, and stronger. 

Partners in Service

In 2025, to celebrate Family Philanthropy Day’s milestones and impact, we turned up the volume by having 12 nonprofits join our program. Each organization had the opportunity to share its incredible work, while each volunteer participated in a range of meaningful volunteer activities.

Participants created holiday cards, Thanksgiving craft kits, medical kits, and other interactive kits for kids for Bo’s Place, Candlelighters, Project C.U.R.E., Basics-Houston Health Foundation, and Wesley Community Center. For Depelchin’s Children’s Center and CHRISTUS St. Mary’s Clinic, volunteers assembled essential hygiene kits and no-sew fleece blankets for the unhoused and elderly. They even prepared supplies for Children’s MuseumHouston’s Seasons of Sharing programming—preparing supplies to be used to create Khanda Mosaics, a symbol of Sikhism.

They also crafted communication books for infants for families at Easter Seals Greater Houston and made 100 bracelets for patients at Texas Children’s that will be delivered by dogs through Faithful Paws Pet Therapy. Additional stations included card-making and letter writing for veterans in the Veteran Outreach Program at Metal Health America Greater Houston and organizing blood testing and DNA sorting kits for The Health Museum. Every activity at the event was more than just a hands-on project—it was an opportunity for volunteers to learn about new issue areas and engage in meaningful conversations about giving and community awareness.

Successful Family Philanthropy

Family philanthropy often includes direct financial contributions, volunteering time and expertise, creating formal giving structures, and engaging in efforts that reflect a family’s collective philanthropic vision. At the Community Foundation, we believe in the power of multigenerational dialogue and connection, and we’re here to ensure your efforts are as impactful and efficient as possible.

Family Philanthropy Day demonstrates that with a willingness to help, anyone at any age can leave a lasting impact. Curious to see how you can partner with the Community Foundation to engage your family in giving back? Contact Jennifer Touchet, Vice President of Personal and Family Philanthropy, today to ensure your charitable giving becomes a long-term family value.

More helpful articles by the Community Foundation:

• Monica Walker’s Blueprint to Lasting Impact
• What is the Great Wealth Transfer?
• Five Tips to Foster a Love for Philanthropy in Children
• The Surprising Benefits of Philanthropy on Your Well-Being

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