Go Team Berry!

Friends and strangers run for the Berry kids at the Chevron Houston Marathon

Team Berry will wear promotional t-shirts with the trademark "Show Your Heart"logo.
Photo via Team Berry for the Houston Marathon/Facebook
Runners registered for the 5K, half marathon and full marathon can sign up forTeam Berry.
Aaron, Willa and Peter Berry are under the care of their aunt and uncle.
Photo via Joshua and Robin Berry Children's Trust/Facebook

Over the past six months, the Berry children have been looked after by their home community and their favorite celebrities. This weekend, they will be honored on their parents' old stomping grounds: The Chevron Houston Marathon.

"Robin and Josh [Berry] both ran the half-marathon last year," explained Gavriella Roisman, co-captain of Team Berry, a group running in honor of the Berry family. "After the race, people took photos of them holding hands together with their medals."

Just months later, over the July Fourth weekend, the family was involved in a car accident in West Texas that claimed the lives of both parents. Their children, Peter, Aaron and Willa, were left orphaned and injured.

Joggers, walkers, seasoned runners, longtime friends, young classmates, community members and complete strangers will run in support of the Joshua and Robin Berry Children's Trust.

"The accident happened around the time that the lottery for the Houston Marathon was taking place," said Roisman.

Roisman's daughter attends Beth Yeshurun Day School with the Berry children and, together with co-captains Mark Strug and Marc Feldman, helped to organize a team. Friends of the family knew that the kids were going to have ongoing personal needs and medical issues into the future (both Peter and Aaron suffered spinal cord injuries), and they wanted to help out in any and every way they could.

Team Berry came about as a fund- and awareness-raising opportunity — and, though the Houston Marathon had already chosen the Run for a Reason charity program recipients, organizers have supported the team in its efforts.

The mixed team of 5K, half marathon and marathon runners currently consists of more than 150 registrants: Joggers, walkers, seasoned runners, longtime friends, young classmates, community members and complete strangers will run in support of the Joshua and Robin Berry Children's Trust.

For an $18 team registration fee (which goes directly to the trust), participants will receive a promotional T-shirt and the satisfaction of supporting an amazing family.

The team has raised more than $4,000 to-date, but Roisman expects to see more donations through the end of the week and post-race. Feldman, a partner in the Village Family Practice, has encouraged employee participation in the race and promised to match their funds, as have other team members.

Click here to donate to Team Berry, or here to contribute to fundraising for one of the other Run for a Reason recipients.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”