ACE Mentor Program Houston is proud to host our 13th Annual Build It Forward on February 7, 2026, at MGC, Inc.! This year, we’re bringing together over 200 students, mentors, volunteers, and community partners to build 40 twin-size beds that will be donated to those in need across the Houston community through our friends at the Houston Furniture Bank. See below for more information and to learn how you can get involved today!
Embedded Files
ACE Houston's 13th Annual Build It Forward is on February 7th, and sign-ups are officially open!
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
SIGN UP AS
A BUILDER!
Follow the link above to sign up as a student or adult volunteer builder to work with a team to build a twin-size bed. We do expect the event to fill up, so sign up today!
TECHNOLOGY & TRADES FAIR: BOOTH PARTNER
Follow the link above to host a booth in our Technology & Trades Fair to share a hands-on, interactive opportunity for students to learn about what you do and the tools and equipment you use every day
TOOL
DONATIONS
Follow the link above to learn how you can help us send all ACE students home with a fully-loaded tool bag by donating tools
EVENT
SUPPORT
Follow the link above to explore how you can make a financial contribution towards the success of our event with as little as $25
EVENT DETAILS - SIGN-UP COMING SOON!
LOCATION
Thank you to our partners at MGC, Inc. for hosting us again this year:
MGC, Inc.
6800 Sands Point Drive
Houston, TX 77074
SCHEDULE
9:00am: Registration opens
10:00am: Event welcome, build project begins
11:00am: Booth set-up for Technology & Trades Fair
12pm-3pm: Technology & Trades Fair + Lunch (in shifts)
3:00pm: Clean-Up, Load Buses, & Deliver Beds
LUNCH, MATERIALS, & SHIRT PROVIDED!
Build It Forward is ACE Houston's longest running event, and you won't want to miss out on all the fun we have planned. In addition to working with other volunteers and students to build a bed, all build materials will be provided and participants will receive lunch, drinks, and an event shirt, all while you give back to the Houston community by helping us build beds! Volunteer hours available by request.
TRANSPORTATION AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS
Optional transportation is available for the day of the event for our ACE students. Buses will pick up at each of our mentor locations (Virtual students can pick which location to board) and drop off at MGC, Inc. in the morning. The buses will return students to their mentor locations at the end of the day. Please use the sign-up form to indicate that you are interested in riding the bus. Bus schedules will be provided during mentor sessions and via email ahead of the event.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!
PRESENTING SPONSORS
VENUE SPONSOR
SHIRT SPONSOR
BREAKFAST SPONSOR
LUNCH SPONSOR
TOOLBAG SPONSORS
PHOTOGRAPHY SPONSOR
DJ & AV SPONSOR
Alicia
Barnes
BED SPONSORS
TECHNOLOGY & TRADES FAIR BOOTH HOSTS
EVENT SPONSORS
R. Scott Crain
Ali-Marie Brooks
Rudy Martinez
Build It FOrward through the years
Build It FOrward through the years
2024-2025
ACE Houston's 12th Annual Build It Forward event was held on February 8th at a new home for the event: MGC, Inc. It was our biggest and best Build It Forward yet, and we were so proud to build 30 twin-size beds to be donated to our friends at Houston Furniture Bank, Fort Bend Women's Center, and Houston Habitat for Humanity in an effort to ensure #nokidssleeponfloor!
Almost 100 ACE high school students representing our 7 mentoring locations worked together alongside professionals from the industry to learn how to use power tools and then put those skills to work in building their very own twin-size bed. In addition to the build, they also got to try out innovative technologies used in building and design through our Technology Fair, with special demonstrations from MGC, Inc. of the the incredible state-of-the-art equipment used in their shop every day.
Special thanks to our presenting sponsors, Alston Construction, DPR Construction, Rely Foundation, and Turner Construction for making this special day such a success! And thank you to MGC for hosting us, feeding us, and ensuring we built quality beds to be donated to the Houston community. It truly takes a village for this event to run smoothly, and we're so proud for the entire AEC community joining us to Build It Forward with our heads and our hearts!
2023-2024
ACE Houston's 11th Annual Build It Forward event was held on February 10th at OP Houston's wonderful office space once again. In the spirit of our exciting 15th year of mentoring in Houston this year, it was our largest BIF yet, and we couldn't have done it without each and every person who contributed.
ACE students spent the day learning how to use tools, working with professionals from the industry, experiencing innovative technologies used in building and design through our first ever Technology Fair, and giving back to their communities. Our build teams worked together to make 30 desks that were donated to nonprofit recipients, Houston Area Women's Center, Fort Bend Women's Center, Habitat for Humanity, and Helping a Hero. Thank you to MGC, Inc. and Woodmark for their generous donation of build supplies and materials, thank you to everyone who participated in the Technology Fair, and thank you to everyone who contributed tools and funds to send every student home with a fully loaded tool bag!
Of course it wouldn't be Build It Forward without DJ Freddy B there to pump up the jams, and we were so lucky to have Jose Gonzalez and his cook team from Taquiza and Eve Powell with Champs Italian Ice back to fuel our hard work through tacos and snow cones once again. We even raffled off tickets to Travis Scott's Celebrity Softball Game thanks to a generous donation from Karen Franklin with the World Youth Foundation. All around, it was another wonderful year of giving back to our community with our hands and our heart!
2022-2023: 10 YEARS OF BUILDING IT FORWARD!
Our 10th Annual Build It Forward was held on February 4, 2023, and it was such a special day celebrating a full decade of sharing the talent of our industry with the Houston community! Once again, our partners at OP hosted us in their space as our teams of students, mentors, and volunteers worked together to build two different options for our nonprofit recipients: mobile work benches and upright tool benches. MGC, Inc. and Woodmark donated the supplies for our teams, and our list of partner organizations included Houston Area Women's Shelter, Boy Scouts of America, Habitat for Humanity, and Nature Discovery Center.
DJ Freddy B brought the jams, our very own Jose Gonzalez and his crew of helpers from Taquiza served up tacos and quesadillas, Champs Italian Ice handed out delicious snow-cones, and each student went home with a fully loaded tool bag (thank you to all those who contributed via our Amazon Wishlist!) – it was a truly celebration 10 years in the making.
Special shout out to our friends at MGC, Inc., Polk Mechanical, and Sunstate Equipment for helping us put together a trades fair for students to experience various careers within the industry first-hand.
Thanks to the ACE Houston community for 10 years of Build It Forward, and here's to another decade of giving back to our community with our hands and our hearts!
2021-2022
When our 2021-2022 Build It Forward rolled around on February 12, 2022, we were so excited to be building in person with our students and volunteers once again! OP hosted the event for their second year, and we took on our most ambitious build project ever. It's a bench, it's a table, it's a SUPER convertible bench table! Despite the challenging project, our build teams knocked it out of the park. Some of our nonprofit partners this year included Gigi's Playhouse, Nora's Home, and the Boys & Girls Club of Houston. During the event, we also offered a trades fair, where several of our trades partners set up booths to give students an opportunity to try various skills with their own two hands. At each booth, students added a tool to their new ACE tool bags, and ultimately left with a full set of tools to use at home.
2020-2021: BUILD IT FORWARD AT HOME
The 2020-2021 mentoring year threatened to cancel our annual Build It Forward event. We were not able to meet with our students in person due to Covid, but that didn't stop us. Thanks to the help of our board members, mentors, volunteers, and generous donors from the community, we pivoted the event to Build It Forward At Home. The Request for Proposal from our weekly mentor sessions challenge students to individually design a treehouse for someone who, completely hypothetically, needed a break from being stuck inside their house all day. For Build It Forward At Home, we challenged students to turn their treehouse designs into small-scale models for birds. Volunteers packed up boxes of tools and supplies, and students picked up their boxes at drive-through events. Despite the event looking a bit differen this year, our students did not disappoint -- their birdhouses were creative, thoughtful, and impressive.
2019-2020
Our 2019-2020 Build It Forward event took place on January 25, 2020. Our friends at OP hosted us in their incredible office space for the first time. Teams of students and volunteers worked together to build picnic tables for local nonprofits like Covenant House, Combined Arms, and Helping a Hero. Little did we know, this would be our last opportunity to have all of our ACE Houston students and mentors together in person for almost two years, as the world shut down due to Covid just weeks later.
2018-2019
Our 2018-2019 Build It Forward event took place on November 17, 2018 at Marek Brothers. Our build teams composed of students, mentors, and volunteers worked together to build picnic tables and benches. Our nonprofit partners this year included Star of Hope, Project Row Houses, Friends for Life, and Boy Scouts of America. We also hosted a career and college fair for students during the event. Our friends at BridgeYear set up simulations for our students to try their hands at electrical and plumbing work, and representatives from colleges like UH, UTSA, Blinn, UHD, and HCC joined us to talk to students about post-secondary education options in the AEC industry.
2017-2018
Our 2017-2018 Build It Forward event was held at Marek Brothers on December 2, 2017. Our volunteers and students once again built picnic tables for our nonprofit partners. We also held a college fair during the event, so students could talk to representatives about their post-secondary education options.
2016-2017
Our 2016-2017 Build It Forward was a celebration of five full years of giving back to our community using our hands and our hearts! On December 3, 2016, we once again were hosted by Marek Brothers, and our teams of students and mentors built benches to donate to nonprofits around Houston. Recipients of benches included the Foster Family YMCA, Bethel's Place Empowerment Center, Summer House Houston, and Generation One. Students also had the opportunity to visit booths at our college fair during the event.
2015-2016
Our 2015-2016 Build It Forward event was held on November 21, 2015 at Marek Brothers. This year we built a bench + table combo to give to our nonprofit partners, like Inspiring Possibilities, The Joy School, and Morning Glory Ranch. We also offered a college and career fair for our students to explore opportunities in the AEC industry.
2014-2015
Our 2014-2015 Build It Forward took place at Marek Brothers on November 22, 2014. Our students and mentors built benches with a lid that opened to reveal storage space, and they were a hit with nonprofits who received them. These partners included Habitats for Horses, Casa de Esperanza, and the Houston Humane Society. We also introduced a college and career fair to the event for the first time this year, and representatives from Rice, UH, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and more joined us to talk with our students about their plans after graduating from high school.
2013-2014
Our second annual Build It Forward event took place on November 2, 2013 during the 2013-2014 mentor year. Once again, Marek Brothers hosted us in their space, and this year we built benches to pass on to nonprofits all over Houston.
2012-2013
Our very first Build It Forward! This event was the brainchild of one of our board members, Angela Cotie. It took place on April 27, 2013 and raised funds for our scholarship program. We built sheds to pass along to our local nonprofit partners, including Ronald McDonald House, Moody Gardens, the Nature Discovery Center, The Joy School and the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center.
Page updated
Report abuse