Outdoors-Loving Houstonians Toast the City’s Park System, Raise $600,000

Katy Anderson
Outdoors-Loving Houstonians Toast the City’s Park System, Raise $600,000

Event co-chairs Norma and Beto Cardenas

NOW THAT THE storms have rolled through and the weather is blissfully fall-like, this week will be the perfect time to enjoy one of Houston's many parks. An event last week celebrated how parks bring Houstonians together — especially when Covid is in our midst.


The Houston Parks Board's annual lunch took place under a tent on the Avenida de las Americas Plaza, overlooking Discovery Green. The nonprofit has spearheaded initiatives to improve air quality and the bayou system, and Board Chairman Barron Wallace spoke on the group's upcoming projects.

In an interview moderated by Texas Monthly editor Mimi Swartz, the luncheon's featured speaker, Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix, discussed how spending time outdoors positively impacts peoples' emotional, mental and physical health.

The afternoon raised nearly $600,000 to further the Houston Park Board's efforts.

Phoebe and Bobby Tudor

Alisa Weldon, Laura Spanjian and Karla Cisneros

Debbie Elliot Griffith, Susan Bono and Ann Whitlock

Marie Louise and David Kinder

Lina Hidalgo

Lindsey Brown and Chris Shepherd

Janice Weaver and Shannon Buggs

Michael Moore and Kathryn Moore

Susan Christian, Kenneth Allen and Sis Johnson

Mimi Swartz, Florence Williams and Beth White

Parties
Fall Philanthropy Report: Be An Angel Improves Quality of Life for Children with Special Needs

What year was your organization launched? 1986 by a small group of committee community members that believed special needs children were not receiving basic life services.

Keep Reading Show less

Gulf Red Snapper at The Annie

These CityBook partners are among the best eateries in the most deliciously diverse city.

Keep Reading Show less
Food

Beth Muecke, Justin Garcia

HANDSOME HOUSTON ARTIST Justin Garcia held a homecoming of sorts at Downtown’s Z on 23. He’s been on a world tour with Orphaned Starfish Foundation, the nonprofit that helps orphans, survivors of trafficking, and refugees break their cycles of abuse and poverty. Garcia is traveling to all 80 of the foundation’s programs around the world, creating unique art pieces that aim to capture each program's unique feel with color, shape and words.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment