Representatives from fifteen Lake Houston area charities were presented with oversized “checks” totaling $53,000 in grants from the Rotary Club of Lake Houston Area during the club’s 2025-2026 Grants and Sponsors Appreciation Luncheon held October 22, 2025 at Humble ISD’s James Eggers Instructional Support Center in Kingwood. Representatives of the non-profits receiving grants and Rotary sponsors were recognized. Lake Houston Rotary Club committee chair Kathy Lemman, is pictured (center) with the charity representatives receiving grants. (Photos courtesy of Community Impact Newspapers.)
Monetary grants totaling over $53,000 were presented to fifteen local charities from the Rotary Club of Lake Houston Area Foundation during the club’s 2025-2026 Grants and Sponsors Appreciation Luncheon held October 22, 2025 at Humble ISD’s James Eggers Instructional Support Center, 4810 Magnolia Cove Drive in Kingwood.
Rotary Club President Scott Hively began the program by welcoming the audience of approximately seventy-five people, the pledge of allegiance was recited and a prayer offered. He then introduced visiting Rotary dignitaries Camille Hamiliton, District Governor Elect, and Stan Galanski, Assistant District Governor.
Next up was Valerie Copley, committee chair of the Rotary Rose Group. She has led a committee supporting women suffering from postpartum depression and anxiety. It was founded as a support group for local moms to meet and share their experiences. Over the years group sessions have been provided by psychiatrists and professional counselors. When it was founded in 2015, there wasn’t a place women could go to receive counseling for this condition. Happily, this is no longer the case. Thus, Rotary Rose Group will be ending its counseling program. This charity supporting women was sponsored completely by Lake Houston Rotary since its inception. (A separate, complete story of Rotary Rose Group will be posted on the club’s website.)
President Hively then turned the meeting over to Kathy Lemman, Lake Houston Rotary Community Grant and Sponsors Luncheon Chair. Ms. Lemman asked former club president Daniel “Danny” Contreres to introduce the club’s sponsors.
These were local business representatives who supported Lake Houston Rotary’s fundraising events as major donors and/or event sponsors. These community grants would not have been possible without their help. Each sponsor’s representative was also presented with a plaque of appreciation.
Major Rotary event sponsors presented with a special “thank you” plaque were: Milan Saunders and Lori Hillman, Plains State Bank (GOLD level); Cole Robbins, Robins Automotive; Mike Kevlin and Tom Stegner, Edward Jones (SILVER level); Kathy Lemman, Stellar Bank; Weyman Price, KW Receivables; and Dr. Kevin Burke (not present), Kevin Burke DDS.
After the club’s sponsors were thanked, Ms. Lemman proceeded with the oversized check presentation with help from club member Sunni Baker. Representatives from each charity were introduced and a brief explanation of how the grant money was going to be used was provided.
The 15 grant recipients were:
Family Time Crisis Center - Christina Allen
Family Time Crisis & Counseling Center is a local social service organization that assists victims of domestic & sexual violence. They provide a safe haven shelter known as The Door for those fleeing unsafe situations as well as counseling services for victims and families.
- This year’s request was to assist with the “Fill the Pantry Program” to provide food and groceries for the shelter, The Door, with two months’ worth of food & groceries to cover 3 meals a day for 25 adults/7 children. - $3,000
Additional Designated funds for the purchase of meat for freezers at the shelter - $2,000
TOTAL AWARD - $5,000
Inspire ND - Jennifer Dantzler - $3,000
Inspire ND is a local non-profit that offers a fully inclusive community for people with neurodiversity by utilizing education, engagement and behavioral health strategies to serve the whole individual and their families.
- This years’ contribution will go to Inclusive social enrichment events for students and the community.
Holocaust Remembrance Association – RoZalie Jerome - $500
Approximately 1.5 million Jewish children perished in the Holocaust. The Upstander Stone Project Memorializes their names and gives people today a tangible way to remember them. This project seeks to paint a memorial stone for each of the 1.5 million children.
- This year’s grant is awarded for the Upstander Stone Project – Humble ISD students receive stones and paint the individual stones for the remembrance garden.
Hopeful Hearts Ministry – Tamara Lexow - $2,500
Hopeful Hearts Ministry is a faith-based ministry that supports the long-term recovery of victims of abuse. Their services help alleviate the suffering and restore the self-worth of survivors. This year’s grant goes to the:
- Colorado Mountain Retreat – This grant would help offset the costs of putting on the retreat such as food, lodging, supplies and driving costs for participants. Participants of these retreats normally do not have to pay, however, due to the distance and location of this retreat they will be asked to contribute to offset costs.
Humble ISD Education Foundation - Jerri Monbaron - $3,000
The Humble ISD Education Foundation was created to help support projects that fall outside of the normal operating budget of Humble ISD. Through generous donations from supporters, the Foundation has been able to help fund innovative classroom projects, student scholarships and other worthwhile school projects. This year’s grant goes to:
- Play, Learn, Connect: Enhancing Social Skills in Preschoolers – providing book sets of the “Learning by Play” literature series for the teachers and staff. The books encompass child-friendly language and real-life experiences that match the play equipment and activities they see every day. It will include play stations to promote creative learning as well as important socialization skills for preschoolers including sharing, problem-solving, turn taking, communicating and collaborating.
Society of St Stephen - Steve Brown - $2,500
Society of St. Steven is a church-based ministry that serves the local Kingwood, Humble, New Caney, Splendora and Huffman areas by providing food, clothing and limited financial assistance with utilities and medication to residents at no cost to the client. This year’s Grant goes to the:
- 18th Annual Back to School program. Grant will help offset the cost of purchasing the backpacks needed to support the youth in need within Humble ISD.
Oaks of Righteousness - Charity Fyke - $2,000
Oaks of Righteousness is a residential program for women who have recently left the Texas prison system. Oaks offers a secure and supportive environment that assists with counseling and addiction recovery classes.
- The grant will go toward the purchase of a passenger van to transport residents to job interviews, appointments and many other transportation needs.
Additional Designated funds for purchase of meat for freezers - $2,000
TOTAL AWARD - $4,000
Family Promise of Lake Houston - Tiffany Venekamp - $3,500
Family Promise serves our homeless families by providing in-network transitional housing, food, basic needs and referrals to other support services. They have a newly completed day center where they provide programming space for counseling, educational opportunities, training classes and mentoring.
- This grant will go towards childcare assistance so that the parent’s can attend job interviews, counseling, education and many other necessary programs to end the cycle of homelessness.
Additional Designated funds for purchase of meat for freezers - $2,000
TOTAL AWARD - $5,500
Humble Area Assistance Ministries - Millie Garrison - $5,000
HAAM is a local non-profit that provides assistance with, and connections to, social services. By partnering with churches, schools and other service providers HAAM is able to consolidate efforts and better serve individuals and families within our community. This year’s grant will go to their:
- Unsheltered program in our area. HAAM will offset funding of laundry vouchers, transportation assistance, and sack lunch items for 1 year.
Additional Designated funds for purchase of meat for freezers - $2,000
TOTAL AWARD - $7,000
Project Protect our Children - Denise Mears - $3,000
Project protect our children is a program started in 2020 with a mission to establish Youth Action Board (YAB) clubs across Texas. These student-led survivor-informed clubs empower youth to recognize and prevent trafficking and exploitation through education, leadership development, and peer-driven advocacy. Since inception, the YABs have collectively reached 60,293 peers, school staff, and community members with life-saving prevention education. Recognizing the programs impact, the Humble ISD School Board mandated in 2025 that every middle school and high school campus in the district establish a YAB. In response, they are working to sustainably expand from five active clubs to full district-wide coverage. The cost to provide tools and training is approximately $3,000/per YAB club with a goal of 7 new clubs.
- This grant will support this expansion with at least one new YAB club for Humble ISD.
Mission Northeast-Tricia Bledsoe - $3,000
Mission Northeast is a social service provider that covers 800 sq miles and 11 zip codes. They have a food pantry, offer job training and adult educational classes, Feed my Lambs program as well as Safe Haven Ministries.
- Improving parking lot at their facility to accommodate parking for volunteers.
Additional Designated funds for purchase of meat for freezers - $2,000
TOTAL AWARD - $5,000
WINGS Ministry - Irma Barbee - $2,500
WINGS Ministry exists to offer marginalized women HOPE for a transformed life by equipping them with employment-readiness, life skills, and a clear understanding of their identity in Christ. Volunteers serve in transitional living programs, post-incarceration release facilities, and lock-down facilities primarily in the greater Houston area. Women who might be struggling with addiction, have been or are currently incarcerated, are part of a court-mandated rehabilitation program, have given birth while incarcerated, are homeless, or may be victims of human trafficking.
- This grant will assist Wings Ministry in hosting the “In Her Shoes 5K Walk/Run” in March 2026. The walk/run celebrates the strength, resilience, and courage of women who have overcome great obstacles, while bringing the community together to create awareness and support of their stories – be it addiction, incarceration, homelessness, or other personal challenges.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace – SHP - Paul Eschenfelder - $5,000
The Houston Chapter of SHP has built, delivered and set up over 5,000 beds for children who have been sleeping on the floor. Their motto is “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town” and through partnerships within our community, like Rotary, they will continue to meet the needs of children in need, one bed at a time. This years grant will go to:
- Sponsorship of a “build day” at SHP. Cost of one bed for construction, bedding and delivery is $250 each.
The Village Centers - Jessica Morales - $3,000
The Village Centers create inclusive opportunities, and discover the abilities of, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities within our community. Their primary goal is to help families gain the assistance they need in raising their child or relative with a developmental disability and to aid the individual in reaching their greatest level of competency. This years grant will go to the:
- Day program community outings & activities. Grant would go towards offsetting the cost of fees and admission costs of outings such as movies, bowling, zoo, parks, arcades, aquariums and other activities. It will also cover creative art supplies, computer classes & culinary cooking classes.
Lake Houston Family YMCA - Erny Lazo - $4,000
The purpose of the YMCA is to strengthen our community. They do this in many ways, such as youth programs, day camps, after school care, health programs for seniors, and adaptive sports programs such as the Miracle League. This years grant will go to:
- The Adaptive Program – Miracle League – Funds will go towards equipment and uniforms for the 2025 fall season. This includes uniforms, softballs, bats and helmets. The fall season serves approximately 100 individuals. Much of the equipment will be reusable for future seasons offered by our family YMCA.
District Grant – YMCA - $3,000
The district grant this year will go towards sponsorship of the 2026 Bridgefest bringing the community together for fun, fitness and fellowship.
In addition to these grants, Rotary has a commitment to children’s education with over a dozen student scholarships granted annually, plus mentoring students in the Junior Rotarian program. The club also supports 2-3 foreign exchange students every year.
The club sponsors a student exchange program and has sent over 50 local teenagers to other countries and an equal number of foreign students were hosted locally.
Money raised through events like the Cinco de Mayo Golf Tournament at Tour 18 and the Rotary Corvette Raffle goes to support these charitable grants. The raffle is made possible thanks to a partnership with Robbins Chevrolet in Humble.
100% of net fundraising revenues are allocated to the Lake Houston Rotary Foundation (a 501c3) and are not used for club operations. Rotary Club members are volunteers and pay monthly dues to fund club operations.
The Rotary Club of the Lake Houston Area Foundation was formed to raise money to give back to the Lake Houston area community in the form of grants to our area non-profits, Rotary Youth Exchange, student scholarships, and promote international peace and crucial aid through Global Scholarships and other vital and essential programs like firefighter training in third world countries.
The Foundation raises money each year through a car raffle, golf tournament, silent auction, and many other ways in the 58 years since our club was established. With these funds the club is able to donate funds to many non-profit organizations in our Lake Houston Area community. Through our financial contributions to these various charities, we’ve been able to follow Rotary’s Areas of Focus on Women and children’s health and safety, Mental Health, Education and Literacy, Peace Building and Conflict Prevention, The Environment, Community Economic Development, Disease Prevention and treatment.
We are so very pleased to continue this honored tradition.
Rotary Club of Lake Houston Area members and guests meet at 11:45 a.m. most Wednesdays for their weekly lunch meeting at the Lake Houston Family YMCA, 2420 West Lake Houston Pkwy. in Kingwood. Visitors wishing to learn more about Rotary are welcome.
The Summer Creek Satellite Rotary Club meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month at 8:30 a.m., at San Jacinto College, Room 225, Generation Park, 13455 Lockwood Road, Houston, TX 77044
For more information about Rotary or membership, visit www.LHARotary.com or search for our Facebook page @LakeHoustonAreaRotary.
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