Leaving a Family Legacy: Thomas and Jennifer Chung

The Youth Challenge mission has a way of bringing people together—whether it’s bringing young people with physical disabilities together with teen volunteers, bringing the East Side and West Side participants together for a Crosstown or Football Showdown, or even rallying staff members of local businesses and other organizations together for the cause.

For the Chungs, YC has literally brought their family together! Jennifer and Thomas Chung first met at a volunteer training in 1995 and married in 2002. Today, they have five kids—Sam (18), Washington (16), Max (13), Atticus (11), and Juliet (6). Washington and Max volunteer at YC, and Max was in the top 15 volunteers on the West Side in 2023!

Thomas said that being a part of Youth Challenge has helped Jennifer and him connect through shared values such as compassion and community service and that they have been able to pass those values on to their children. Together, Thomas and Jennifer had the opportunity to work with Mini Camp participants and watch them grow up to thrive as alumni participants who give back to YC.

“We have a shared connection through creating lasting memories through volunteerism,” Thomas said.

Thomas came to that 1995 volunteer training fresh from the Marine Corps—his friend Hilary recruited him to YC to help lift participants and to be a male influence at programs. By the time Jennifer met Thomas, she was a seasoned teen volunteer, having volunteered at YC for about six years. Eventually, Jennifer became a board intern and then a program staff member. As a program staff member, she helped plan YC’s first Art Fest.

Thomas became a van driver. He would buy donuts for the participants he’d pick up and ask them how their days at school were. By the time they got to program, he would make sure everyone finished their donuts and wiped powdered sugar off their clothes and wheelchairs!

“We were friends before we started dating, and by the time we started dating, I realized he became my best friend,” Jennifer said. “We spent a lot of time together that year at different Youth Challenge events and then getting together with the staff outside.”

Over 20 years later, Thomas and Jennifer see the impact YC has made on their kids. They have seen Max and Washington grow in compassion, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. When Max and Washington come to programs, they have an opportunity to see everything that goes into making Youth Challenge work—from pickup and dropoff to snacks and bathroom breaks.

“From the beginning, Mary Sue created something really special,” Jennifer said. “YC is an organization unparalleled in many ways where children could be themselves and gain confidence and have fun and learn skills and build friendships and be uninhibited by any physical limitations that might be present in other settings.”