A Legacy in Motion: Brett & Brooke Hower

For Brett and Brooke Hower, generosity has always been part of the example they were shown.

Brooke grew up in the Mid-Ohio Valley, where she watched her grandparents, Jim and Jane Watson, live out what it means to invest in the people and places around them. Brett came to the area from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, after attending college locally, and was similarly shaped by the example his parents set through their own generosity and philanthropy.

After meeting at First Baptist Church of Williamstown in 2017 and marrying in November 2025, they began thinking about what that legacy of generosity would look like in their own family.

“We started asking ourselves, what are the causes we really want to support, and what is the best vehicle to do that in a way that is intentional and has the greatest impact?” Brett said.

The answer, they discovered, was Marietta Community Foundation.

Brett and Brooke were familiar with the Foundation, but as they learned more, they saw an opportunity to simplify the way they gave…bringing their charitable giving together in one place while allowing those resources to grow and be distributed to the causes they care about.

“I realized it answered a lot of those questions for us,” Brett said. “It gave us a way to organize our giving, invest it and grow it, and ultimately be more intentional about where it goes.”

There was just one challenge. With young children and the financial responsibilities that come with this stage of life, setting aside the Foundation’s traditional $2,500 minimum upfront did not feel like the right decision. Brett reached out to the Foundation with questions, and through those conversations, discovered a new way to begin: the Starter Fund.

The Howers became the first donors to establish a Starter Fund at Marietta Community Foundation. Designed for individuals and families who want to begin their philanthropic journey before they are ready to meet the Foundation’s traditional $2,500 minimum, Starter Funds allow donors to start with as little as $1,000—or $500 with monthly payments—and build toward the minimum over time.

“We knew we wanted to give, but we didn’t know if a fund was something that made sense for us yet,” Brett said. “Once we realized there was a way to start smaller and build over time, it just made sense. We didn’t have to wait.”

That ability to start now is exactly what the Howers hope other families will see in their story.

“We are a teacher and an HR professional. We are pretty normal people who have just decided that giving is important to us,” Brett said. “We want people to know that the Foundation can be a vehicle for them, too. You don’t have to be at a certain financial status in your life to start thinking about philanthropy.”