Over multiple years, Matthew McConaughey and his family volunteered to help deliver meals via Meals on Wheels in Central Texas, including on Thanksgiving days. Doing this sort of work takes time, humility, personal presence.

During the early days of the pandemic, McConaughey, his wife Camila, and his mom Kay joined a Zoom call with residents of a senior living facility in Texas. They played bingo together, chatted about family heritage etc., just to brighten their day and help people who were isolated.

In May 2020 he and Camila drove around Texas with a truck full of masks (110,000 donated by Lincoln), distributing them to rural hospitals in need during the COVID situation. It’s a pretty practical, boots-on-the-ground kind of help.

At the University of Texas, he took part in “SURE Walk,” a program to help students safely get home late at night—using golf carts, walking partners, etc. McConaughey volunteered time to support that.

McConaughey isn’t just a busy actor — he takes care to be a present dad. One article describes how he delights in “never-ending stories” with his young children. When story time is supposed to wrap up, he’ll keep making up new parts, extending the tale by imagination so that the kids don’t want it to end.

It’s a small thing, but it shows a willingness to slow down, be playful, and be fully in the moment with his children. That kind of presence counts — especially when someone has a high-pressure life.

There is a story by someone who attended church that describes how McConaughey showed humility and respect. The author writes that one Sunday, she shook hands with people around her as part of the gathering, and Matthew McConaughey was there seated nearby. When she turned to shake his hand, she felt awkward because of his celebrity, but he asked something about the usher and handed his check to the usher personally, rather than doing something performative.

What’s meaningful in that: treating people in ordinary contexts with decency, not making people feel their presence is overshadowed or exploited, and just participating in regular communal life.

There’s a story about actor Glen Powell’s dad meeting Matthew McConaughey. When they first met, Powell Sr. told McConaughey that he had a picture of him by his bed (they turned out that it was a magazine cover). Rather than dismissing this as a weird comment, McConaughey responded warmly: he said that that photo shoot was one of his favorites ever, grabbed his shoulder, and they struck up a friendship.

This shows welcoming someone’s admiration, finding something relatable, and turning what might be an awkward moment into a human one.

He and his wife Camila Alves founded the Just Keep Livin’ foundation in 2008. Its mission is to support high school students by providing them with programs and support to lead healthy lives, make positive choices, and build self-esteem.

Matthew surprised first responders in Houston by delivering “turkey feasts” to police, firefighters, 911 dispatchers, and ER staff to thank them for their work during Hurricane Harvey.

He also partnered with Operation BBQ Relief and Wild Turkey to provide meals to first responders during wildfires in California, and to shelters.

On his birthday, he helped deliver thousands of turkeys to people in need (Lawrenceburg, Kentucky). He once delivered 4,500 turkeys to families.

During storms in Texas in 2021, he organized and hosted a virtual benefit (“We’re Texas”) via his foundation to help vulnerable communities get back on their feet.

For the Maui wildfires, he and his family helped fund and send an emergency aid plane with supplies through the nonprofit Baby2Baby.