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For 115 CyFair mothers and teenage sons, three hours spent inside the Houston Food Bank added up to something much bigger: 20 pallets, more than 17,000 pounds of food and household essentials, and enough food to provide more than 14,600 meals for families across the Greater Houston area.

Members of the Young Men’s Service League CyFair Chapter gathered at the Houston Food Bank on Saturday, Sept. 12, for the chapter’s 2026 Ultimate Gift project, turning an annual tradition of service into 345 combined volunteer hours focused on one of the region’s most persistent needs.

CyFair Mothers and Sons Take On Food Insecurity Together

Throughout the three-hour shift, YMSL CyFair volunteers cleaned, sorted, boxed and prepared food and household items for distribution. By the time their work was finished, the group had packed 20 pallets weighing more than 17,000 pounds.

The effort comes as the Houston Food Bank works year-round to help families experiencing food insecurity across Greater Houston. Through a network of more than 1,600 community partners, the nonprofit distributes food and other essentials to neighbors in need. According to the Houston Food Bank, its work helps provide more than 143 million meals annually for more than 1 million people experiencing food insecurity.

For YMSL CyFair Chapter President Dr. Clarisa Garcia, the day was also about what happens when mothers and sons make service something they do together.

“I would like to express that I am so proud to be part of YMSL, a group of Mothers from all backgrounds who show up for their sons and community in so many ways. The Ultimate Gift was an event that allowed us all to come together and find joy in service,” Garcia said.

An Annual Project Designed to Make a Bigger Impact

The Ultimate Gift is the Young Men’s Service League’s signature annual philanthropic project, with each chapter concentrating its volunteer efforts on a single organization or community need. The idea is intentionally ambitious: bring enough people together at one time to accomplish a project that would be difficult for the partner organization to complete without that concentrated volunteer support.

The CyFair Chapter has built a steady record of hands-on service since it was founded in 2021. The local organization includes 101 young men and 88 mothers from the Cypress area who volunteer with nonprofit organizations throughout the year. Previous Ultimate Gift projects have supported Reach Unlimited, Boys and Girls Country and the Houston Food Bank, making this year’s food-packing effort another chapter in the group’s ongoing commitment to serving the Greater Houston community.

The CyFair group is part of the national Young Men’s Service League, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with more than 100 chapters across the country. YMSL brings mothers and their high school-aged sons together through a four-year program combining community service with leadership development and life skills education. The goal is not only to fill volunteer shifts, but also to give young men opportunities to grow into confident leaders who understand the importance of showing up for their communities.

For families in Cypress and CyFair, that mission took a particularly tangible form this year. The volunteers could see the pallets filling as they worked and know the food they handled would soon make its way through the Houston Food Bank’s partner network to people who need it.

Three hours may be a relatively small piece of a Saturday, but multiplied across 115 people, it became hundreds of hours of help and thousands of meals. It also gave dozens of local mothers and sons a chance to work shoulder to shoulder for neighbors they may never meet, but whose lives are part of the same Greater Houston community.

Residents interested in learning more about Young Men’s Service League and its mother-son volunteer program can visit YMSL.org. Information about volunteering, donating and other ways to support the Houston Food Bank’s work addressing food insecurity is available at houstonfoodbank.org.

Stay tuned to My Neighborhood News for more stories highlighting CyFair residents, students and organizations making a difference across the community.

By Tiffany Krenek, My Neighborhood News 

Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.

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