SUN DONATED $10 AMONG FOUR ORGANIZATIONS
Baytown, TX — June 26, 2026 — The Baytown Sun directed $10,000 this week, split as $2,500 gifts to Bay Area Rehabilitation Center, United Way of Greater Baytown Area & Chambers County, Baytown Habitat for Humanity and Baytown Meals on Wheels, to help each of these organizations continue their good works helping those in need in our communities.
The gift came via the Carmage and Martha Ann Walls Foundation, which allows publishers at all Southern Newspapers Inc.-owned papers to choose a local non-profit or non-profits to receive funds each year.
Carmage Walls founded Southern Newspapers, which owns ten community newspapers in Texas. Martha Ann Walls served as president of the company for most of its history. Their daughter, Lissa Walls, now owns the company, and her parents’ legacy of community giving lives on through her and the foundation.
“We chose these four organizations for doing such good work to help so many others on a day-to-day basis,” Sun Publisher Carol Skewes said.
“Walls Foundation gifts allow our paper to make a significant impact on non-profits that make our area better and help local volunteers to carry out their mission,” Skewes said. “Without the work of volunteers and staff within these vital organizations, there would be more unmet needs.”
Publishers of each newspaper recommend organizations for funding, and the foundation’s board of trustees’ votes on distribution.
Organizations that received Walls Foundation grants for 2025 provide housing assistance, disaster remediation, youth educational opportunities, job training, counseling, healthcare to the underinsured, job placement services and drug rehabilitation support, among other critical services.
In the past 17 years, the foundation has given more than $3.7 million to the communities Walls-owned newspapers serve, including Galveston, Baytown, Brazoria County, Bay City, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Paris, New Braunfels, Kerrville and Seguin.
“We invest in our towns in so many ways, including watchdog and community-building journalism, helping local businesses reach customers, employing local people and being consumers of local shops ourselves,” Skewes said. “I’m proud to be part of a company that gives back, and Southern Newspapers always makes that a priority.”
In addition to the Walls grants, newspapers themselves also sponsor local events and activities which benefit the areas they serve.
Just a few of those sponsored by The Baytown Sun include the T1D Gala (to raise funds for Juvenile Diabetes research), The Mane Event (to help the homeless), Lions Club Gumbo Festival, Rotary Shrimp & Catfish Festival, Pilot Club Walk to End Alzheimer’s, Kiwanis Golf Tournament, Baytown Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament and other events, Mont Belvieu Area Chamber of Commerce Pink Breakfast (breast cancer awareness), Veterans Day appreciation, Influentials Under 40, Citizen of the Year, Women’s Expo, Senior Expo and more.
To view the story with The Baytown Sun, visit: https://baytownsun.com/local/united-way-volunteers-assemble-care-kits-for-homeless/article_fff46018-846b-439b-8945-5f5e1d90d8f4.html