The Hendrick Family Legacy
The Hendrick Family: Honoring their Parents, Strengthening their Community
November 12, 2025 | For the Hendrick Family, giving back to the community is generational.
Kathie Falls, the youngest of the Hendrick children, shared how her parents’ commitment to service helped instill those values in their five children.
“Both of our parents were very community minded,” Kathie remembered. “They were very involved and took part in a lot of community-focused volunteerism. It was just a part of their whole persona; to be involved in the community and to be giving back.”
Through their church, the Hendrick Family identified additional ways to give back, including helping to sponsor and house refugees in the 1970s.
So when the two parents passed away in 2018, Kathie and her siblings knew they wanted to find a way to carry on their parents’ legacy of service.
“We wanted to do something together as a family to honor our parents, and a neighbor came to me with the idea of looking at the Community Foundation,” Kathie remembers.
The Hendrick children and their spouses considered several different possibilities, but all 10 ultimately agreed on the Community Foundation as a secure, effective, and trusted way to charitably support issues that mattered most to their parents.
“We really liked the fact that there was a structure that the Community Foundation gave us,” Kathie shared. “They offered information, could help us do research on different organizations, and make informed decisions on our own.”
“One of the things we were looking for was something that was sustainable,” oldest sister Meg Downs agreed. “Not only for our generation, but for the future.”
Mary Beth Deutsch, the middle Hendrick family daughters, was particularly moved by the way the Community Foundation made it easier to do something together.
“We're all at different stages where we are with things,” she stated. “So for us to be able to come together and say ‘this is where we feel pulled to’ and have the Community Foundation help combine those ideas was so great.”
The Hendrick Family, which also includes brothers David and Richard, was able to identify specific issues their parents valued, including housing, food access, and social justice, and work with the Community Foundation to identify the best way to support those issues through Richmond region nonprofits.
But what does it look like to get five siblings and their five significant others in the same room for the purpose of agreeing on a nonprofit to support?
Mary Beth provided some insight into the Hendrick Family’s process - and it involves food. They usually come together in one location and decide over a shared meal.
“There are a lot of us,” Mary Beth said, “but the actual decision about where to give is led by what the different members of our family are doing, which makes it pretty easy when you know where everyone’s real passion is at the moment. There has been some push and pull before as we figure out where everyone is emotionally.”
Kathie shared a similar outlook, commenting on how rare it is for such different families to come together every year to make a complex decision.
“You can’t take it for granted that five unique family units who are very different are coming together and they all know a decision has to be made,” Kathie shared. “And you know there's emotion attached to it, because it's about honoring our parents.”
Yet while the discussion is always candid and often passionate, it always stays centered on serving the community in the most effective ways possible.
Meg suggested this approach is so successful because ultimately, they’re all on the same side, with the same focus, and considering the same legacy.
“We're very blessed to have such respect for each other,” she said. “When we finally come around to a decision, we're all better for it.”
Previously, the family chose to give to SOAR365 based on Meg's involvement in the organization. Another year, the family decided to give to Greater Richmond SCAN based on Mary Beth and her husband’s service as Court Appointed Special Advocates through that nonprofit. They’ve also given to Shalom Farms in the past, based on Kathie’s long-term involvement with them.
At every turn, the Hendrick Family has emphasized the need to not only honor the memory and legacy of their parents, but with 14 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren, to ensure they’re including the next generation in the process.
“It's been such an important part of our family and who we are that it's important to us that our children are also part of the process and feel that desire and learn from it,” Kathie suggested. “So when we all get together, it’s not only fun, but it's also an opportunity to teach the younger generation.”
Meg also mentioned that doing service projects with different organizations they’re supporting has also been an essential way to engage the younger members of the family.
“For several years, the whole family's been involved with volunteer projects at SOAR365,” Margaret said. “We’ve put bags together for some of their day programs. Most recently, our family came together to help paint and put together furniture in a special space that SOAR uses to help keep clients calm and feel safe.”
Mary Beth shared that these service projects not only help support organizations and issues the family is passionate about, but reinforce the bonds that have kept their philanthropy going strong for nearly a decade.
“It’s super fun,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for us all to be together, which is so important, but yet make it about something beyond ourselves, which is so important too. We are a really lucky family.”
Now, in alignment with the Hendrick Family’s focus on engaging the next generation, the Community Foundation has begun working closely with them to ensure their parents’ legacy continues.
“They’re really interested in working with families like ours,” Kathie said. “The next generation is in their 30s and 40s now, and they're at a place where they can start thinking about how they can give back in a bigger way. It's a part of our giving structure because we knew we would want to include them at some point.”
Looking ahead, the sisters emphasized the importance of taking intentional steps to build a lasting, legacy-driven approach to giving.
“If you’re interested in doing something that’s truly sustainable,” Meg shared, “find a partner like the Community Foundation who can help guide you through the process — because it’s not as simple as writing a check.”
Nearly a decade later, the Hendrick family’s partnership with the Community Foundation has not only honored their parents’ legacy but is helping to ensure that spirit of giving continues to shape the community for generations to come.