Foundation to Award 2014 Hero

The Minnie and Arch Underwood Family, one of the most influential and civic-minded families Lubbock and the South Plains have ever known, will be honored by the Lubbock Area Foundation during the 15th annual Hero’s Luncheon, scheduled for Thursday, August 14, 2014.

In advance of that event, Lubbock and area media are invited to attend a special news conference at 2 p.m., Tuesday, July 22, 2014, where Mayor Glen Robertson and the Lubbock City Council will proclaim August 14, 2014 as Minnie and Arch Underwood Family Day. The news conference will be held in the Plains Cotton Conference Room at the Bayer Museum of Agriculture, 1121 Canyon Lake Drive.

Minnie and Arch Underwood, their children and subsequent generations have made monumental contributions to the region’s cotton industry, economic development, civic organizations, churches, universities and charities for more than 75 years. The Amarillo Globe News described Arch Underwood as a “man of many talents who has done much to aid progress in West Texas … and …he will have a big hand in future development.”

The family will take its place among previous Hero’s recipients and major contributors to the legacy of Lubbock and Texas, including Kay Bailey Hutchison, John Montford, Glenna Goodacre, United Supermarkets, Robert Duncan, Marciano and Martha Morales and Spike Dykes.

The Lubbock Area Foundation, started in 1981, is a community foundation for the South Plains and beyond. Its primary purpose is to attract and build permanent endowments that benefit this region for many years to come. Since 1997, endowments established in honor of our heroes have generated more than $1,000,000 in grants for community projects, scholarships and local nonprofit causes.

The August 14, 2014 Hero’s Luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Overton Hotel. For additional information, contact Sheryl Cates, President, Lubbock Area Foundation at sheryl@lubbockareafoundation.com or (806) 762-8061.