Our founders, Glenn and Viola Walters, grew up on poor farms and doing such they both understood issues such as hunger, poor living conditions, and the poverty cycle, especially for young people.

As Glenn and Viola neared retirement, their business was sold. They began to engage in assorted philanthropic work including upgrading churches and schools, converting other buildings into cultural resource centers, and contributing charitable funding to other brick-and-mortar projects. Their interests even in later life continued to be especially focused on at-risk youth.

Glenn and Viola wanted to ensure that their philanthropic work would continue for generations, so in 1999 they set up the Walters Family Foundation. Members of their family and other non-family members came together as a Board of Directors and were tasked to bring a combined expertise to continue their philanthropic work in a financially sustainable manner helping the public interest for generations. Their Foundation continues to this day now into the third generation by helping many nonprofit organizations. In 2023, the Walters Family Foundation name was changed to The Walters Foundation.