Janice and Bob McNair received an award Thursday from the DePelchin Children's Center, in honor of their contributions to providing good mental health in the community.
Texans founder, chairman and chief executive officer Bob McNair and his wife, Janice, were presented with the Kezia DePelchin Award on Thursday for their long history of philanthropic efforts in the Houston area.
In 2006, McNair urged the upstart Texas Bowl to focus its search for a charitable beneficiary on organizations based in and servicing the Houston community.
According to the DePelchin Children's Center, the McNairs were given the award because "the couple has led the way among business entities with their provision of mental health parity for their employees—including the Texans."
"It's quite an honor, and it's really a privilege to be able to give back and to be able to be in a position to help an organization like DePelchin," McNair said. "We're trying to help them extend their services."
Founded in 1892 by Kezia Payne DePelchin, the Children's Center is the largest and most comprehensive provider of children's social and mental health services in the Houston area. DePelchin Children's Center serves 16,000 children and family members annually through 30 programs, including adoption, foster care, counseling and drug and alcohol prevention.
The agency was originally founded to serve as a shelter for orphaned children and has grown and changed over its century-plus history to continue to meet the needs of the greater Houston community. Today, DePelchin Children's Center has more than 60 locations in Harris, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston, Ft. Bend and Waller counties.
The Texas Bowl presented a check in the amount of $100,000 to DePelchin at the Center's annual spring luncheon Thursday. The donation came from the proceeds of the 2009 Texas Bowl.
"When we initiated the Texas Bowl, we wanted a charity that would represent children and families, had been around for a while and had a lot of credibility," McNair said. "DePelchin fit that and we've given them, through the Texas Bowl, now over $300,000. As the bowl grows, the contributions to DePelchin will grow."
DePelchin Children's Center was named as the Texas Bowl's official charitable beneficiary in 2006. Over its four-year history, the Texas Bowl has donated more than $300,000 to DePelchin and has generated over $7 million in promotional support and publicity.
"It's been a great thing for our children. They get to go to the game; they to be excited about DePelchin being featured. It's a wonderful situation that they brought to us four years ago, and we're so excited about the Texas Bowl," said DePelchin president and CEO Dr. Curt Mooney. "Mr. McNair has done a tremendous job of helping to raise the profile of our organization and to raise money for our work."
