Contents

Letter from the President and CEO

Chamber Leadership

Michael’s Cookie Jar shares love with a side of yumminess

United in Service Coalition helps veterans reconnect with home

Founding Corporate Partner Amegy Bank puts its money where its mouth is

The community helped Pearl Bar survive the pandemic,

now it returns the favor

Nonprofit Bunnies on the Bayou hosts largest LGBTQ+ fundraising festival in Texas

Charity on Tap: Eureka Heights Brewing Company gives back to the community

Grocer H-E-B’s philanthropy goes back more than a century

For Realtor Chris Schmidt, it’s all about the community

…and the love of dogs

Good Wine, Good Deeds: Raise a glass to Nice Winery’s philanthropy

Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s Jack Berger

is a Jack of all trades

OUT & About

Member Directory

5340 Weslayan St. #25011

Houston, TX 77265

(832) 510-3002

info@houstonlgbtchamber.com houstonlgbtchamber.com

The Voice for the Greater Houston LGBTQ+ and

Allied Business Community

Mission

The Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce accelerates economic opportunity for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer + business community through a strong network of business allies, innovative

programs, strategic partnerships

and advance policies that foster

economic inclusion and equality.

This is a Town Square Publications, formerly MetroMedia (since 1997), publication created and produced for the Greater Houston LGBT

Chamber of Commerce, 5340 Weslayan St. #25011, Houston, TX 77265

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Copyright © 2023 Town Square Publications

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Letter from the

President & CEO

We are excited to rollout this inaugural “Giving Back” issue! We are highlighting some of our member organizations and individuals who give back to community in a variety of ways. Their philanthropy makes an incredible difference for the community and helps individuals and organizations support those in need.

Thank you to those highlighted in this issue for all they do to make our city a better place. They truly are some of the “best of the best” and put community first. We have so many members who give back, and I wish we could highlight them all! For now, enjoy this issue and learn more about these remarkable members.

In this issue, we also highlight Jack Berger, who is the new Director of Programming & Events, for the Chamber. Read more about why he is excited about this new role!

Ready for Pride Month?!?!? We are gearing up for Pride Month at the Chamber. It will be here before we know it. How can you get involved this year?

Definitely make plans to join us at the Pride In Business Celebration & Awards on Friday, June 23rd! The Pride In Business Celebration is one of the premier Pride Month events in the region. Sponsorship opportunities are available! Be part of it!

Learn more at http://houstonprideinbusiness2023.lgbt.

Buy LGBTQ+! Pride Month is a great time to be intentional about supporting LGBTQ+ owned businesses. Check out the Chamber Directory and support LGBTQ+ owned businesses in June and all year long. If you’re looking for a service or product, look no further than the Chamber Directory at https://business.houstonlgbtchamber.com/member-directory. I encourage you to make sure you are spending your dollars with businesses that support the LGBTQ+ community.

We are off and running with 2023! If you’re not a member, join the Chamber and be part of it! Learn more about membership here.

We are incredibly proud of the past issues of Business Intersections and this issue is no exception. A huge thank you to our magazine advertisers in this issue for your generous support. Missed a past issue of Business Intersections? Catch up on past issues here!

With Pride,

Tammi Wallace

Co-Founder, President & CEO

p.s. Be sure and follow the Chamber on social media and stay updated!

Share the Love

Michael’s Cookie Jar shares love with a side of yumminess

Doing good never tasted so good. A Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce member since the beginning seven years ago, Michael’s Cookie Jar’s motto is Share the Love. And they don’t just mean cookies.

Owner Michael Savino is a transplant from upstate New York, a Culinary Institute of America graduate with a degree in pastry and baking. He worked at the Four Seasons in both Dallas and Houston before deciding to start his own business in 2006.

“Michael’s Cookie Jar didn’t have a store front,” Savino said. “We took orders online and sold direct to coffee shops and caterers. I drove the cookies around in my car to deliver them.”

He also didn’t have a kitchen to begin with and had to share space with a wedding cake baker in Tomball. That experience re-enforced his commitment to supporting other local businesses.

“I think you have a duty to showcase other local businesses as a way of paying back those that support you,” Savino said. He buys his vanilla from a local company and sells other local products in his store such as Chocolate Pizzaz, a company that sells chocolate covered popcorn, pretzels and snacks.

“And we have a separate display case for the cookies from Doggie Express,” he said. “They are gourmet dog cookies that people love, they think they look so good that we have to remind them they are for dogs only.”

As an LGBTQ+-owned business, Savino said the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce has been important to staying connected to the community, as well as just a good business connection. When it comes to philanthropy, while he’s done a lot with LGBTQ+ organizations, such as The Montrose Center, over the years, his main focus is children.

“There’s only so much a cookie shop can do,” he said. “And what goes better with cookies than kids? It’s a natural connection, they are our customers, and they are the most vulnerable in our society.”

He donates gift certificates and cookies to parent/teacher organizations, and children’s nonprofit services, and has an easy-to-fill-out form on the website for requesting donations. Michael’s Cookie Jar is also a proud supporter of Kids Meals, a local nonprofit that delivers meals to some 7,000 pre-school children a day.

And then there’s Books Between Kids.

“We’re a drop off location for book donations,” Savino said proudly. “We’ve donated tens of thousands of books to the program that helps at-risk children create their own home libraries.”

As gourmet cookie shops have become more popular, Savino said he isn’t worried because Michael’s Cookie Jar builds on the classics.

“A cookie should really evoke childhood memories,” he said. “What is better than a chocolate chip cookie, fresh out of the oven?”

For more information (and cookies!) visit michaelscookiejar.com.

NONPROFIT MEMBER Spotlight

Connecting Our Veterans and Our Community

United in Service Coalition helps veterans reconnect with home

By Marene Gustin

Retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant Tramashika DeWalt served in Korea as a military police person and police investigator, having signed up right out of high school. Growing up all across northwest Houston, mostly in under-resourced communities, DeWalt’s options were limited.

“It was a better option for me,” DeWalt said. “When Kim Jong-il fired missiles, we had to deploy to the line, but that was the closest to action that I got.”

Still, DeWalt suffered from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after coming home to Houston and an inability to reconnect to the community. During Hurricane Harvey DeWalt’s grandmother’s home was destroyed, triggering a bout of PTSD. It was DeWalt’s eldest daughter who called her uncle, who was also a veteran, to help her mother.

“I didn’t think I had a problem,” DeWalt said. “We typically don’t think we have a problem because we are trained to think that way. We tend to isolate ourselves. My uncle helped me, and I want to help other vets. I like to serve, so that’s what I do, and it helps.”

DeWalt volunteered with The Mission Continues, a nationwide non-profit that helps connect veterans with service projects and is now a platoon leader there, as well as being an outreach specialist for the Wounded Warrior Project. But that still wasn’t enough for DeWalt. So last year, she started her own nonprofit: United in Service Coalition, connecting veterans to communities.

“All the veteran nonprofits focus on the vets, and community nonprofits on the communities,” DeWalt said. “So, I purposely tried to make sure there’s a connection between our brothers and sisters in arms and the community.”

United in Service Coalition, currently serving nearly 100 Houston vets and several under-resourced communities, hosts two events a month, focusing on social, educational, and community service. Past events have included a Valentine’s Day event and a Texans game.

“Serving other vets was serving me, DeWalt said. “If anybody is willing to do the work, they can reconnect, you just have to want it. Creating my own nonprofit wasn’t easy, but with ambition and PTSD. I just did it.

“When I think about my PTSD I think of those anti-drug commercials, with the egg and frying pan. This is your brain, and this is your brain on drugs. So, I think this is just my brain on PTSD, it’s just being enhanced. And it’s amazing what you can do when you redirect that focus.”

It’s no wonder DeWalt was honored last year by both the NFL’s Salute to Service and the Dynamo’s Hero of the Match.

As a new member of Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce DeWalt said joining up was a no-brainer.

“As a very new nonprofit, it’s given me an opportunity for exposure and allowed me to network,” DeWalt said. “Of course, I wanted to join.”

For more information or to donate visit unitedinservicecoalition.org.

CORPORATE PARTNER Spotlight

Amegy Cares

Founding Corporate Partner Amegy Bank puts its money where its mouth is

By Marene Gustin

Amegy Cares is more than just a charitable giving program at Amegy Bank of Texas. It’s a way of life.

“I think it’s about supporting the communities where we do business,” said Clay Melder, Relationship Manager Healthcare and Not for Profit Banking. “Our leadership understands the importance of philanthropy.”

The oil bust of 1981 triggered the banking collapse in the Southwest, which was particularly devastating to Texas. From 1980 through 1989, 425 Texas commercial banks failed, including nine of the state’s 10 largest bank holding companies. In 1988, 175 Texas banks failed with assets of $47.3 billion. Resulting in a loss of 25% of the state’s 1987 year-end banking assets.

In 1990, Houstonian Walter Johnson decided there had to be a better way to do banking in Texas, a bank geared toward the needs of Texans that would give back to the community. What he started in 1990 as one bank now has branches around the state.

“He’s in his 80s now and still comes to work here,” Melder said. And his philosophy of community still reigns. Amegy Bank, part of Zions Bancorporation since 2005, has that homegrown feel.

“It gives us big bank resources, but we get to keep the community bank mentality,” Melder said. Amegy Bank donated more than $1 million to 330 nonprofits last year, in addition to its very successful United Way campaign.

“We also encourage employee volunteerism,” he said. “We provide volunteers for the Houston Pride Festival, Habitat for Humanity and Vita Living.” Vita Living provides housing and support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“I love volunteering there,” Melder said. “We go out and read books to them and do a big Christmas gift giving event each year.”

He was also involved with a fundraising event for Open Gate Homeless Ministries in 2021 and 2022 that featured drag queen bingo at the bank, hosted by the legendary Lady Shamu.

“I just took the idea and ran with it,” Melder, who is chairman of the bank’s LGBTQ+ resource group, said. “I just prayed it would work out, and we raised about $13,000. The overwhelming support I got from the bank for that speaks volumes to me. Amegy Bank really puts its money where its mouth is when it comes to diversity.

“As someone who identifies as LGBTQ+, it’s important for me to give back to that community and Amegy Bank agrees,” Melder said. The bank’s motto is Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, a motto that shows in the donations of both money and time that Amegy Bank gives to the community.

As Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce celebrates its seventh anniversary this year, Melder said Amegy Bank is proud to have been one of the founding Corporate Partners.

“We’ve been there since day one,” he said. “It’s given us the resources to move the needle forward on our relationships with the LGBTQ+ Community.”

For more information visit amegybank.com.

MEMBER Spotlight

A Real Gem of a Bar

The community helped Pearl Bar survive the pandemic,

now it returns the favor

By Marene Gustin

Pearl Bar joined the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce last year, while celebrating its survival as one of only 21 lesbian bars left in the country, one of only two in Texas, and the only one in Houston.

“We are lucky to have the support of the community,” said owner and bar tender Julie Mabry.

Back in the 1980s there were some 200 lesbian bars nationwide, places that celebrated lesbians, bisexuals and queer women. Places where they felt safe to congregate. But gentrification and rising rents as well as a more inclusive queer community, and a lack of funding for women-owned businesses in general, contributed to the decline. And the COVID pandemic didn’t help either.

Mabry always knew she wanted to open Pearl Bar. As a teenager, she and her sister found safety and solace in the lesbian bar culture. After working in the industry, and becoming sober, she opened Pearl Bar in 2013.

“I went through some hardships,” she said. “But I promised myself I would open Pearl Bar and I would do it sober to keep my community safe.” She had seven successful years until COVID-19 almost ended her dream.

She closed Pearl Bar one day before Houston’s Mayor Sylvester Turner shut down the entire city. She thought it would last for three weeks. It was more like three months. And, even when Governor Greg Abbott — briefly — reopened Texas bars, she didn’t reopen, not wanting to endanger her staff and customers. Pearl Bar survived with T-shirt sales and a successful GoFundMe campaign. Mabry, the 2019 Human Rights Campaign Houston Community Equality Award winner, said it was thanks to the support of the local LGBTQ+ community.

“I’ve always loved Houston for its diversity,” she said. The response was so great that Mabry donated all of the funds she received from the Lesbian Bar Project back to the project.

“They raised more than $200,000 for the last lesbian bars during COVID,” she said. “We didn’t need the money, but the visibility was needed for all of us.”

The Lesbian Bar Project started with a PSA and a 30-day fundraising campaign in October of 2020 and followed with a documentary of lesbian bars in connection with Pride month the next year.

Yet even before being so grateful for the community support that helped her bar survive, Mabry was a constant donor to local LGBTQ+ organizations.

“I run the bar, so I don’t have a lot of hours,” she said. “But I’ll donate money. Particularly to the trans community, to Tony’s Place, The Montrose Center, and the Club Q shooting victims. Sometimes we hold pet adoptions at Pearl.”

With COVID almost in her rear-view mirror, Mabry has other distractions on her mind. And that’s where Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce comes in.

“The Chamber is very important for their advocacy work,” Mabry said. “The current legislation and bar shootings are frightening. I want to do what I can to keep our community safe.”

For more information visit pearlhouston.com.

NONPROFIT MEMBER Spotlight

It’s Not Just a Big Party

Bunnies on the Bayou is the largest LGBTQ+ fundraising festival in Texas

By Marene Gustin

Bunnies on the Bayou, Inc., which hosts the annual Easter blowout downtown at Sesquicentennial Park, is Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s newest nonprofit member. And while many are familiar with the fun and frolicking that goes on at the annual outdoor party, you may not be aware it’s the largest fundraising festival in Texas for LGBTQ+ nonprofit programs. The event raised $210,000 for area LGBTQ+ nonprofits last year.

“That was a record,” said Jacques Bourgeois. “And that was coming off the pandemic.”

Bourgeois is Bunnies first Black president, and the 44th president of the organization. Something he said he proudly shares with Barack Obama.

While the event is 44 years old, it didn’t start out to be a philanthropic party. In 1979, a few friends gathered for a birthday party on Easter Sunday. The following year they sent out invites, set up a sound system, and held it outdoors. From there it just kept growing until the party moved to the Wortham Center grounds in the 1990s. That’s when the hosts started asking for attendees to bring food donations. Since 2001 Bunnies on the Bayou, as a 501(c)(3), has charged an admittance fee and has raised over $1.7 million dollars for more than 125 different nonprofit LGBTQ+ health and service agencies. One hundred percent of all net proceeds from the Easter party, which attracts some 3,500 to 4,000 attendees, and smaller events throughout the year are given away as grants.

Even before joining Bunnies, Bourgeois was impressed at the organization’s transparency.

“As a co-founder of Houston Gaymers, I modeled the nonprofit aspect after Bunnies,” he said of the LGBTQ+ video gaming group that also raises funds for gaming systems for children’s hospitals, homeless shelters, Hatch Youth and Tony’s Place. Bunnies on the Bayou has a much broader focus. This year there are 20 beneficiaries ranging from AIDS Foundation Houston to the University of Houston’s LGBTQ+ resource Center.

“I’m hoping we can raise $250,000 this year,” Bourgeois said. “That would be great.”

Other beneficiaries are the Texas Nongender Nondiscrimination Scholars, The Mahogany Project, and the Trans Legal Aid Clinic Texas.

Bourgeois is focusing on making Bunnies on the Bayou more inclusive.

“There is a misconception that we are just a white/cis group,” he said. “But we are inclusive and diverse, we welcome everyone. In particular I’m working with the Black queer community to get them engaged.” He’s also working on creating auxiliary events for non-drinkers and seniors.

While Bunnies is a nonpolitical group, Bourgeois does believe in putting community first. And that’s why he joined the Chamber.

“We joined because we’re the second largest LGBTQ+ event, next to Pride, but we weren’t utilizing our relations in the community,” Bourgeois said. “It just makes sense to become a Chamber member.”

For more information visit bunniesonthebayou.org.

ALLIED MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Charity on Tap

Eureka Heights Brewing Company gives back to the community

By Marene Gustin

Most Houstonians know the city was built on a swamp, but not too many realize part of the sprawling city is built on a fault line. Specifically, the Long Point-Eureka Heights fault system that runs from southwest to northeast.

Luckily, there have been no significant earthquakes in recent times, but the fault line did lend its name to Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce allied member Eureka Heights Brewing Company. But the only quaking going on there is with laughter.

“We’re sort of the lovable, wacky uncle of the craft beer scene,” said Evan Camp. Camp handles the brewery’s community relations, but his official title is Party Boy, which gives you some sense of the humor. And, if there’s any doubt left, there’s a picture of Betty White on the wall, their patron saint. They celebrate her birthday every year with a special brew dedicated to the late funny lady, and donations to the SPCA in her honor.

Because it’s not all puns and pop culture at Eureka Heights Brewing Company.

Founded by three friends in 2016, the brewery is very community driven, intent on celebrating inclusivity and diversity and on giving back to Houston and its LGBTQ+ community. This year, Eureka Heights celebrates its seventh birthday and its second year in the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

“This is an opportunity for us to be inclusive and support the LGBTQ+ community,” Camp said. “It’s been beneficial for us, because when you think of a brewery you think of fat, bearded men drinking, but we have a diverse clientele and it’s become even more so since we joined the chamber.”

The brewery returns the favor by hosting the Chamber’s food drive every December. Also, the last Thursday of each month is drag bingo at the brewery, with Miss Gay Southwest America Dessie Love-Blake hosting, and where four chamber members set up information booths.

“You see a lot of businesses doing LGBTQ+ events during Pride Month,” Camp said, “but we wanted to do something every month, and the Chamber helped us with that.” They do make a special beer during Pride, Lavender Bunny Beer, with donations going to The Montrose Center, with a goal of raising $25,000 a year.

“We do as much as we can,” Camp said. “We host events for nonprofits and volunteer time. Any nonprofit that is fundraising we would love to help out.” There is a button on the brewery’s website for requesting help.

“I’ve tasted a lot of beer for nonprofit benefits,” admits Camp. Eureka Heights has 18 beers on tap at any time, but they’ve made hundreds. During the pandemic the brewery created a new beer every week and sold them at a drive through. Buckle Bunny cream ale is the flag-ship beer, but Camp’s favorite is Somethin’ Light, which is, of course, a light beer. Both are poured year-round.

For more information on the brewery visit

eurekaheights.com.

CORPORATE PARTNER Spotlight

Not Just a Store,
But So Much More

H-E-B’s philanthropy goes back over a century

By Marene Gustin

Like the Super Bowl commercial says, “If you know, You know,” and we aren’t just talking about H-E-B’s delicious butter tortillas. We’re talking about the culture of giving that is synonymous with the grocer’s commitment to fresh foods.

“Five percent of pre-tax earnings goes back to the community,” said James Harris, director of diversity and inclusion and supplier diversity for H-E-B. “And this isn’t new, we’ve always been invested in the communities we serve.”

Florence Butt opened a little grocery store in Kerrville, Texas, more than 100 Years ago with just $60. She did so to support her family, as her husband was ill with tuberculosis, and she had three young sons.

Her youngest son Howard Butt took over in the 1920s and soon began to open additional stores. He changed the name to H-E-B in 1942. Today H-E-B has more than 430 stores in Texas and Mexico and does more than $38 billion in annual sales.

As far back as 1905, Florence, who was very involved in the Baptist Church and the Order of the Eastern Star, was very philanthropic.

Howard told the San Antonio Express, “Neither Mother nor I were very good credit men,” Butt said. “Mother would give anything we had in the store to anyone who came in and said he was a minister, or a member of any church, or just from Mississippi — and I wasn’t much better.”

“So, it all comes down from the family,” Harris said. “It’s in their DNA.”

The Community Investment Program contributes to nonprofit organizations that operate within the immediate HEB marketing area. It favors activities, projects and causes that make a visible and positive difference. H-E-B contributes products, volunteers or cash, depending on the need. Causes include education and literacy, hunger relief, health initiatives, social services, environmental programs, diversity and the arts.

And H-E-B is also known for its disaster response which can rival the Red Cross when it comes to Texas Hurricanes and blackouts, showing up with truckloads of bottled water, ice and food. After the mass school shooting in Uvalde, H-E-B and the Butt family donated $10 million to replace Robb Elementary.

H-E-B believes its suppliers should be just as diverse as its customers. In 2021, H-E-B introduced its Be the Change initiative in 189 Texas supermarkets. The company used Black History Month as part of its plan to advance the visibility of underrepresented groups such as racial minorities, women, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities. Be the Change expanded on H- E-B’s $1 million pledge in 2020 toward inclusion and diversity.

“At H-E-B, we believe that Each and Every Person Counts, recognizing the diversity of cultures, beliefs and backgrounds drives innovation,” Harris said. “We are providing diverse suppliers an equal opportunity to compete and succeed. In many cases leveraging the usage of diverse suppliers helps to increase sales, supply chain sustainability and brand loyalty. When people say, ‘this is my H-E-B,’ it really is!”

Learn more about Texas’ favorite grocery store at heb.com.

CORPORATE PARTNER Spotlight

He Guarantees Good Deeds

It’s all about the community…and the love of dogs

By Marene Gustin

His new business is called “Your Home Sold Guaranteed or I’ll Buy It!” which is a mouthful but it’s something Realtor Chris Schmidt stands behind. And it’s just as important to him as donating to charity.

“We have a lot of written guarantees,” said the native Californian. “It takes away the uncertainty of trying to sell your home. We deliver what we promise.” And Schmidt promises to donate a portion of every dollar his company makes to charity.

“We want to make an impact and improve the lives of our customers and our community,” he said.

After graduating from Texas A&M, the first in his family to achieve a college degree, Schmidt stayed in Texas and eventually moved to Houston’s Inner Loop, the area he now specializes in, with a focus on homes in the Greater Heights, Oak Forest and Spring Branch. He has been in real estate for 20 years and has a CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) membership. This prestigious membership is only held by top Commercial Brokers worldwide and takes more than a year of class work, testing and experience to complete. 

Although he’s been selling real estate in Houston since 2011, he only joined the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce four and a half years ago.

“I really value what the Chamber does,” Schmidt said. So much so that he donates 25% of sales back to the Chamber from every sale he makes for a Chamber member. Or any client who says they found him through the Chamber.

“The Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce is such a benefit, that I’m hoping part of my donation to them will be used to pay for new memberships for start-up companies,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt’s other passion is pups. He and his husband have two dogs, a rescued Black Labrador and a Welsh Pembroke Corgi with an attitude.

“I’ve always had big dogs, but my husband made me get her,” he explained. “But Corgi’s are basically just big dogs with short legs.”

Besides donating to the Chamber, Schmidt and his husband donate to Friends for Life, a no-kill shelter in the Heights.

“My husband chose the charity,” he said. “Because we don’t have children and our dogs are really our children.”

Besides having a state-of-the-art, LEED-certified shelter, Friends for Life gives to more than 5,500 spay/neuter surgeries through its Fix Houston program. And, since the spread of COVID, the organization has launched a Drive-Thru Clinic + Pet Food Bank, which offers free vaccinations, vet exams, preventatives and pet food to those struggling to care for their animal family members.

Each winter, Friends For Life also builds and distributes #ProjectWARM shelters made of specially modified plastic tubs and lined with foam and hay for insulation. They are durable and reusable year after year, designed to keep free-roaming cats safe and warm through the winter. For animal lovers, this is a model pet charity.

Find Chris Schmidt at greaterhoustonhomesource.com.

MEMBER Spotlight

Good Wine, Good Deeds

Raise a glass to Nice Winery’s philanthropy

By Marene Gustin

Nice Winery, a new member of Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce, was the proud winner of 30 medals at the 2023 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo International Wine Competition. Adding four new Champion Belt Buckles, a record three Double Gold awards, five Gold Medals, and 18 Silver Medals to their trophy cabinet. They also donated bottles to the annual Rodeo Uncorked! Champion Wine Auction and Dinner.

“One of our bottles raised $200,000 for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo scholarship program,” Nice Winery co-owner Ryan Levy said. And that’s a very personal privilege for Levy.

“Thirty years ago, I could only attend Rice University because of a rodeo scholarship,” he said. “Rodeo didn’t just give me a scholarship, it gave me the gift of gratitude.”

Three years ago, Levy and his husband Ian Eastveld — Certified Sommeliers, wine educators, and Le Cordon Bleu trained chefs — planted the first vineyard inside Houston city limits.

“It’s the only place in Houston where you can go and do a wine experience,” Levy says. “We pair our sustainably grown wines with chef prepared food. It’s no belly-up-to-the-bar wine experience.” Wine club members and visitors to the guided wine classes enjoy seated discussions and tastings. It’s a very “nice” experience for wine lovers.

But Nice, an acronym for Eastveld’s siblings, isn’t just the name of the winery, it’s their philosophy. Their charity arm donates to more than the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. A lot more.

“Last year we donated to more than 300 charities,” Levy said. “Over $1 million since 2007. We wholly dedicate three wines that we make, our Nice Rosé, Nice Periwinkle and Ariana, to extraordinary organizations; The Emma Jacobs Breast Cancer Foundation, The Periwinkle Foundation, and OpHeart.”

OpHeart is a charity organization committed to saving the lives of children born with life-threatening heart defects. The Ariana wine is named for the daughter of friend and wine club member, Anne Garcia, whose baby was born with a congenital heart defect. Ariana was able to receive life-saving open-heart surgery but for the many infants who don’t have access to such medical miracles, Garcia founded OpHeart.

Some of the charities the winery supports are very personal, but they also donate private tastings to a multitude of local nonprofits. Some of the beneficiaries include Human Rights Campaign Foundation, Bunnies on the Bayou, Rice University, and arts organizations such as Theatre Under the Stars, MetDance Company, Houston Symphony and the Children’s Museum of Houston, and, of course, the Chamber. There are also educational organizations and health nonprofits, in fact it’s a very diverse list of beneficiaries and they encourage any 501(c)(3) to apply for a silent auction donation of a wine tasting.

Nice wines are sold at area restaurants, bars and grocery stores, but Levy said because of production limitations the best way to taste them is to join the wine club.

As for his favorite wine?

“Everyone has a favorite child,” he says. “But they just don’t say it.”

For more information on Nice Winery and their charity visit nicewines.com.

From Member to Board

to Chamber Team

Jack Berger has been with the Chamber in some way since the beginning

By Marene Gustin

Jack of all trades, master of pretty much all of them as well, Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s new director of programing and events Jack Berger is the community’s renaissance man. He’s everywhere and he does everything.

“It’s all about the community,” says Berger of his support for the LGBTQ+ community. “It’s hard to say no, if not me, who will?”

Berger was late coming out, he was 46, and has two great adult sons from his earlier years, but he likes to say that he’s been making up for lost time ever since. And that means working and volunteering wherever he is needed.

A graduate of Syracuse University in New York state, Berger came to Houston to help out as the emergency director for the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1986. From there he continued his love of sports and marketing and public relations, working for his own company as well as the Greater Houston Sports Foundation and 17 years ago he joined OutSmart magazine, one of the state’s oldest LGBTQ+ publications.

“I had just come out about six months before I took the job,” Berger said. “OutSmart was a founding member of the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and part of my job as an advertising executive at the magazine was attending community events, so I was always involved with the Chamber.”

From being a committed volunteer for the Chamber, Berger went on to join the board of directors in 2019, was named Volunteer of the Year in 2021, was the chair-elect of the board last year. He joined the team this past February.

“There are a lot of moving parts to this job,” he said. “And I’m still learning as I go. But we have monthly events like the Breakfast meetings on the third Thursday of every month at Harold’s in the Heights and on the last Thursday of the month we just started an event with member Eureka Heights Brewing Company. They have drag queen bingo and raise money for a charity and have other Chamber members showcase their companies.”

There’s also the big Pride in Business event in June along with Day of Giving in December.

Sound like a lot? There’s much more that Berger is involved in. He was president of Bunnies on the Bayou for four years and still volunteers with them, president of both Executive Professional Association of Houston (EPAH) and the Houston Tennis Association, as well as serving on the boards for OutReach United, Bayou City Performing Arts and the Lesbian Health Initiative.

As for the Chamber, Berger is passionate about its mission.

“I think we have a responsibility to give back,” Berger says. “That sense of responsibility was passed on to me by my parents and hopefully I will pass it on to my sons.”

Learn more about Jack Berger at houstonlgbtchamber.com/volunteer-of-the-year.