Uvalde Foundation for Kids Launches Fall 2026 National Fundraiser
The Uvalde Foundation for Kids is launching its Fall 2026 National Fundraiser, a nationwide campaign aimed at supporting families, young people and communities affected by violence, disaster and crisis.
The campaign begins after a year in which the Foundation says its teams responded to urgent requests for help, supported families after shootings, maintained youth safety efforts and recognized young people working toward peace and accountability in their communities.
The announcement was made from Temple, Texas, on September 24, 2026. The fundraiser brings together Foundation chapters and representatives across the country, including teams connected to Central Texas, New York, New York, Los Angeles, California, Oʻahu, Hawaii, Seattle, Washington, Asheville, North Carolina, Chicago, Illinois, and Kansas City, Missouri.
Founded in the aftermath of the 2022 Robb Elementary School tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, the organization began as a local response to families in grief. Since then, its work has expanded into a broader national effort focused on youth safety, crisis response, violence prevention, family assistance and public accountability.
Today, the organization is also known publicly as the Youth Peace & Justice Foundation, while continuing to operate legally as The Uvalde Foundation For Kids.
A national fundraiser shaped by a year of direct response
The Fall 2026 National Fundraiser comes at a time when the Foundation has moved beyond a single-city identity while staying rooted in the reason it began.
The Foundation was created after one of the most painful school tragedies in the country. In its earliest form, it focused on helping families in Uvalde. That work included emotional support, public advocacy and efforts to keep attention on the needs of children and families after national media attention moved elsewhere.
Over time, the organization’s work widened. Communities in other states began contacting the Foundation after shootings, family crises, school safety concerns and disasters. Local representatives and chapters formed in different regions, creating a network that could respond faster and stay connected to affected families over time.
That national growth is central to the fall campaign.
Rather than operating as a one-time appeal, the fundraiser is tied to a year of ongoing work. The Foundation says support raised through the campaign will help continue its programs for young people and families, including crisis assistance, youth recognition, safety work and outreach to communities dealing with trauma.
The campaign also gives chapters in different states a shared effort. While each community faces its own challenges, the Foundation’s message is that care for children and families cannot stop at city or state lines.
The chapters and representatives supporting the campaign
The fall fundraiser is being supported by Foundation chapters and representatives in several parts of the United States. Those locations include:
Central Texas
New York, New York
Los Angeles, California
Oʻahu, Hawaii
Seattle, Washington
Asheville, North Carolina
Chicago, Illinois
Kansas City, Missouri
The spread of those communities reflects the Foundation’s evolution from a Texas-based response effort into a national network.
Central Texas remains a key part of the Foundation’s identity. The organization’s origin in Uvalde continues to shape its work and public voice. At the same time, the presence of representatives in places such as Oʻahu, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago and Kansas City shows how its mission has grown through relationships with communities that have faced different types of crisis.
Each chapter and representative group brings a local lens. A community responding to storm damage may need a different kind of help than a family affected by a shooting. A youth recognition program in one city may look different from violence prevention outreach in another. The national campaign connects these individual efforts under one broader mission.
That structure matters because crisis response often depends on trust. Families facing trauma may not know where to turn. Local representatives can help identify needs, verify requests and connect people with resources more quickly than a distant organization acting alone.
The Foundation points to 2026 as a year of showing up
In describing the need for the fundraiser, the Foundation is pointing to what it calls a year of showing up.
Throughout 2026, the organization has responded to individual families and communities while continuing work around youth safety, violence prevention, recognition and accountability. The year included urgent assistance after a park shooting in Kentucky, standby support during a hurricane in Hawaii and ongoing work with families affected by gun violence in Seattle.
Those responses show the range of needs the Foundation is trying to meet. Some situations require immediate financial assistance. Others involve helping families navigate resources after a disaster. Some require longer-term support after public attention fades.
The fundraiser is meant to support that mix of short-term and ongoing work.
The Foundation’s 2026 response work has included more than 200 assistance requests after the Charles Young Park shooting and more than $15,000 distributed to verified individuals and families for immediate needs.
That kind of direct support can matter in the days after a crisis. Families may need help with transportation, temporary housing, food, funeral-related costs, medical-related needs or other urgent expenses. The Foundation has described its work as focused on verified individuals and families, an approach meant to keep aid directed to people with immediate needs.
Assistance after the Charles Young Park shooting in Lexington
One of the Foundation’s major 2026 response efforts followed the shooting at Charles Young Park in Lexington, Kentucky.
After that incident, the Foundation received more than 200 requests for assistance. It later distributed more than $15,000 to verified individuals and families for immediate needs.
The figures point to two realities that often follow community violence.
The first is the scale of need. A shooting affects more than those physically injured. Families, witnesses, neighbors, young people and community members can all face sudden disruption. Even when public discussion focuses on the event itself, the practical needs that follow can be wide-ranging.
The second is the need for verification and coordination. When many requests come in at once, organizations must balance urgency with care. They need to confirm who needs help, understand what kind of help is appropriate and distribute support in a way that reaches affected individuals and families.
The Foundation’s response in Lexington is one reason the fall fundraiser is national in scope. A crisis in one city can call on support from a much wider community. Donors and chapters in other regions may not be directly connected to the location, but they can help make response work possible.
Oʻahu’s AnchorPoint Safe House was placed on standby during Hurricane Lala
The Foundation’s 2026 work was not limited to violence response. On Oʻahu, the Foundation’s AnchorPoint Safe House was placed on standby during Hurricane Lala.
The Safe House helped provide support and connections to resources for families and young people affected by the storm. That role fits a different type of crisis, one shaped by weather, displacement and the need for rapid coordination.
Storm response often requires more than emergency shelter. Families may need help finding food, safe transportation, temporary supplies, child-focused support and information about local services. Young people may be especially vulnerable when schools, routines and home stability are disrupted.
By placing AnchorPoint Safe House on standby, the Foundation positioned it as part of a support network during the hurricane. The effort reflects the organization’s broader view of youth safety, one that includes both violence prevention and protection during emergencies.
The Oʻahu response also shows why the Foundation’s chapter structure matters. A mainland organization cannot understand every local need from afar. A local presence can help connect families to nearby resources, respond with cultural awareness and communicate more clearly with people on the ground.
Continued work with families after the Bite of Seattle shooting
In Seattle, the Foundation continued working with families affected by the July Bite of Seattle shooting at Bite of Seattle.
This part of the Foundation’s work points to the longer timeline that follows public violence. The first days after a shooting often bring attention, statements and immediate aid. Families then face weeks and months of grief, logistics, emotional strain and unanswered questions.
Ongoing support can include helping families stay connected to resources, keeping attention on accountability and making sure affected people are not left alone once headlines fade.
For organizations focused on youth and family safety, that longer-term presence is often part of the mission. Crisis response does not end with the first round of assistance. In many cases, the hardest work begins after the immediate emergency passes.
The Foundation’s continued work in Seattle also shows how its national network may function across distance. A local tragedy can become part of a broader pattern of communities seeking support after violence. The Foundation’s role is to help families navigate that aftermath while maintaining a public focus on safety and accountability.
Youth safety, violence prevention and recognition remain part of the mission
The Foundation’s fall campaign is not only about emergency response. Its 2026 work also includes youth safety, violence prevention, recognition and accountability.
Those areas are connected.
Youth safety can involve prevention efforts, awareness, family support and community engagement. Violence prevention can include public education, outreach, partnerships and efforts to respond early when young people or families face risk. Recognition programs can highlight young people who model leadership, service and peace-building in their communities.
Accountability is also part of the Foundation’s public identity. Since its founding after the Robb Elementary School tragedy, the organization has connected family support with calls for responsibility and safer systems. That focus continues as the Foundation works with families and communities outside Texas.
The public name Youth Peace & Justice Foundation reflects that wider mission. It signals an emphasis on young people, peaceful communities and justice-centered work. At the same time, the legal name The Uvalde Foundation For Kids keeps the organization connected to its origin and the families whose loss helped shape its purpose.
Both names carry meaning. One points to the future of the work. The other remembers where it began.
Why the fall campaign matters now
The fall fundraiser arrives at a time when many community-based organizations face growing needs and limited resources.
Crises do not arrive on a schedule. A shooting, hurricane or sudden family emergency can create urgent needs within minutes. Organizations that respond to those moments must maintain relationships, volunteers, communication systems and funds before the next call comes in.
That is one reason seasonal campaigns matter. They give supporters a clear window to contribute before resources are needed again. They also help chapters coordinate around common goals instead of responding only after emergencies happen.
For the Uvalde Foundation for Kids, the Fall 2026 National Fundraiser serves several purposes:
It supports direct assistance for families and young people.
It helps maintain response capacity across different regions.
It connects chapters under one national effort.
It keeps attention on youth safety and violence prevention.
It funds work that may continue long after a crisis leaves the news.
The campaign also gives the Foundation a chance to tell a broader story about what its work has become. It began in grief, but it now operates as a network of people responding to families and young people in many places.
From Uvalde to a wider national network
The Foundation’s expansion does not erase its beginning in Uvalde. Instead, that beginning appears to guide how the organization approaches its current work.
The Robb Elementary School tragedy remains one of the defining school shootings in recent U.S. history. For families and community members in Uvalde, the effects did not end when the national spotlight shifted. That reality helped shape an organization focused on showing up after tragedy and staying present when attention moves elsewhere.
As the Foundation expanded, it carried that lesson into other communities. Families affected by violence in Lexington or Seattle may face different circumstances, but they share a need for support that is practical, compassionate and sustained. Families affected by a hurricane on Oʻahu may face a different type of emergency, but they also need resources and trusted connections.
The common thread is care for young people and families during moments when systems can feel hard to navigate.
The fall campaign asks Foundation communities across the country to act together. It is national because the needs are national. It is local because each chapter and representative works in a specific place, with specific families and specific challenges.
What comes next for the campaign
The Foundation’s next step is to bring its chapters, representatives and supporters together around the fall fundraiser.
The campaign is expected to support ongoing assistance for young people, families and communities facing crisis. It also reinforces the Foundation’s broader work in youth safety, violence prevention, recognition and accountability.
For communities that have worked with the Foundation in 2026, the fundraiser is tied to real events and real families. In Lexington, that includes hundreds of assistance requests after the Charles Young Park shooting. On Oʻahu, it includes support connections during Hurricane Lala. In Seattle, it includes continued work with families affected by the Bite of Seattle shooting, including the family of Ashley Whitehead.
For the Foundation, the campaign is also a reminder of its origin. What began as a response to families in Uvalde has become a national effort to stand with families and young people in moments of crisis.
The fall fundraiser now turns that work back to the communities that sustain it. Its success will depend on chapters, representatives and supporters choosing to keep showing up, not only when tragedy is fresh, but when families are still rebuilding afterward.
HOW TO HELP
Supporters can contribute through PayPal:
Donate through PayPal
Donations can also be made directly through the Foundation's website:
Youth Peace & Justice Foundation Donation Page
For more information about the Foundation and its work:
