OLAF GROWALD
Mary Ho grew up not having much, born to immigrant parents who came to the U.S. to escape Communist regimes in Vietnam and Cambodia. When they arrived in Dallas in the late 1970s, her father worked on cars while her mother sewed at a factory, taking home whatever couldn’t be finished during the workday and having her children help snip and trim patches.
Yet, despite not being well-to-do, Ho remembers being “surrounded [by] really kind people” — and dreamed of someday having the means to pay it forward.
That desire to spread kindness would follow Ho as she made her way to Fort Worth. Ho now plays an active role in the community, not only as co-owner of popular restaurants Tokyo Cafe and Shinjuku Station but also as a board member of economic development group, Camp Bowie District, Inc., and most recently, the Kindness Duck Project — yes, the nonprofit responsible for bringing the World’s Largest Rubber Duck to Fort Worth’s Trinity Park.
The Kindness Duck Project began after a conversation with couple Kyle and Cye Wagner, whose children go to Trinity Valley School with Ho’s. The COVID-19 pandemic was well underway, and amid the blame-games and increasingly political discourse the world had seemingly fallen into, Ho recalls saying, “I wish everybody was just kind. We need our kids to see it in our society, and we need to remind adults what it feels like to be kind and receive kindness.”
So, to fill that void in the community, the Wagners launched the Kindness Duck Project, taking an idea originated by minister Mark Burrows and turning it into a nonprofit organization. The Wagners, Burrows, and Ho make up the board, with the yellow duck serving as the organization’s mascot.
Beyond the inflatable rubber duck kicking off the project’s launch at Trinity Park, the Kindness Duck Project has a mission to promote other nonprofits and commit random acts of kindness — one of their first, for example, was providing a bike for a child who had been walking long distances in the heat to get to summer school.
“We want to do more things like that — random acts of kindness,” Ho says. “If someone needs something and we’re able, we’re going to make it happen for them. Hopefully they will pay it forward when they are able.”
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They’re big fans of the food scene in Austin.
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A Christmas staycation at the Adolphus Hotel.
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The four-legged family members, Casio and Toshiba.
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A night out with immediate family.
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Ski trips are an annual tradition. Here, the Ho family takes on Whistler, Canada.
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The Ho family is very involved at Trinity Valley School.
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Jarry and Mary on their wedding day. They celebrated 15 years in October.
All this, of course, she’ll manage alongside her restaurants, which she co-owns with husband, Jarry. Ho says she’s not one to be satisfied with just doing her day job — helping the community is important, too.
“I always remind my kids, your words don’t mean anything — what is most important is how you make that person feel, how you make their heart feel,” she says. “That’s all that will matter because they will always remember that moment.”
What I Order Around Town
Antipasto clams (with a side of linguine) il Modo
House ricotta and sourdough Piattello Italian Kitchen
Beef carpaccio Aventino’s Italian Restaurant
Gumbo Waters Restaurant
Taraba roll Shinjuku Station
