Pictured on the left are team members from Southside Bank and pictured on the right are Chamber Diplomats. Ms. Rozalee Jerome, CEO of the Holocaust Remembrance Association and the Garden of Hope, stands in the middle.
 
This quarter, Bobbi’s Angels and members of the East Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce stepped into a volunteer experience rooted in remembrance, reflection, and responsibility. Nearly 25 volunteers spent a morning at the Holocaust Garden of Hope in Kings Harbor, supporting the Upstander Stone Project—a powerful effort to honor the 1.5 million Jewish children who were killed during the Holocaust.
 

Each painted stone pictured here represents a child killed during the Holocaust.

The Garden of Hope is a teaching garden designed to walk visitors through history with compassion and purpose. Before beginning their work, volunteers toured the garden’s memorial spaces, grounding the day in quiet reflection and reminding them that their efforts were part of something deeply meaningful.
 

Volunteers tour the Garden and learn about the significance of each unique aspect.

At the heart of the Upstander Stone Project is a simple but profound idea: one stone represents one child. Students, families, and community members decorate stones with names, symbols, and messages so future visitors can feel a personal connection to each life lost. It turns the staggering number of 1.5 million into something human and tangible.


Volunteers sort stones and spray them with a clear protective coating before they’re ready to be placed in the garden.

Chamber volunteers spent the morning sorting, organizing, and sealing painted stones to protect them from weather and time. Shawn McDowell, one of the volunteers and members, shared, “I think we prepared and placed around 2,000 rocks, but the goal is to have 1.5 million to fully represent the children killed in the Holocaust. There’s still a lot left to do.”


Shawn McDowell carries a box of stones that are dry and ready to be placed in the Garden.

Several business partners stepped up in a big way. Southside Bank brought roughly 10 employees from across Southeast Texas because of their special connection to Bobbi Bodenhamer, the namesake of Bobbi’s Angels. Their presence showed how corporate volunteerism can be both personal and impactful.


Various team members from Southside Bank arrive, from across the region, ready to do something meaningful.

For others, the work carried a deeply rooted significance. Cheri Grebe shared that her late mother—a daughter of a liberator—was an avid ambassador for the stone project. “I don’t know how she did this every day, but she would spend three to four days a week donating her time,” Cheri said. Her participation was a moving continuation of her mother’s legacy.


Cheri Grebe, the granddaughter of a liberator, enjoys the light sprinkle of rain while she carries a legacy her mother began with the stone project.

Light sprinkles drifted through the garden as they sealed the stones, something the Garden’s founders shared is considered a blessing in Jewish tradition. The weather added a quiet reverence to the work, as if the stories represented in those stones were being gently acknowledged.

This volunteer day is part of a quarterly give-back tradition for the Chamber's Diplomats, who select a Non-profit Chamber Member each quarter to serve. What looks like a fun tradition has become an engine for genuine impact—reminding us that business-led volunteerism strengthens teams, deepens community ties, and supports organizations preserving history, dignity, and hope.


Volunteers left the Garden of Hope humbled, grateful, and reminded that doing more than business is part of our collective responsibility. And there is still so much work ahead. For any business looking to create meaningful impact, this is a powerful place to begin.

To learn more about the Garden of Hope or to plan a visit, you can explore their story at gardenofhopeproject.org.