I just met a woman who shared with us a story that really drove home the importance of our work here in Texas...
Just two years ago, her family lost just about everything to Hurricane Harvey. She even lost her mother from a heart attack during the storm. Their home had been flooded and just recently they had been able to finish the final repairs.
Then the rains started last week. And they didn't stop until nearly four feet of rain had fallen, creating the second 1,000-year flood for her community in the past two years!
The waters began to rise, and they rapidly rose until her family once again found themselves in need of a life-saving rescue as their recently-restored home was overwhelmed by the floodwaters. Her entire neighborhood was overtaken by the flood. The water rose so quickly that some of her neighbors had to go to their roofs just to escape the flood while they awaited rescue.
As she was sharing her story, she told us she can still hear the cries for help that rang out across their neighborhood as she was pulled to safety. I could tell that it haunts her. And she's worried about her 82-year-old grandfather who was also rescued from the waters.
There are so many stories just like this. And because the federal government has not yet issued a disaster declaration, the people here are fighting hopelessness as they await a fate that feels beyond their control.
This is why we're here. This is why we are adding shelters today in surrounding counties that are full of people who lost their homes and have no place to turn. That's why we're taking meals door-to-door to help flood victims, and providing hot meals to the volunteer crews who are coming to help salvage as many homes as possible before the mold sets in.
I need your help.
As I write, Mercy Chefs is fully deployed in two critical relief efforts -- here in Texas and our vital work reaching hurricane evacuees in the Bahamas. Today alone, we'll serve more than 4,000 meals. I know these storms are already out of the news cycle, but the crisis for these folks is still as real as the day the rains came... perhaps even more so since hopelessness often hits as the reality of how long and difficult the recovery will be sets in.
There's so much more to share. I'll be heading back to the Bahamas in the next week to expand our efforts there to reach even more people on the front-lines of that storm's strike. And there's many more people for us to reach here in Texas. Yes, it's a challenge to be simultaneously deployed in response to two disasters. But this is why we exist! To feed people "body and soul." And each meal is made possible by friends like you.
Thank you for helping me meet this dual challenge today!
God bless!
Gary LeBlanc, Founder
Mercy Chefs
P.S. This woman's story is heartbreaking. She just finished restoring her home from Harvey when she found herself needing to be rescued as her house was once again inundated by the floodwaters. Our hot meals will reach thousands of people in the next 24 hours with similar stories. And each meal carries with it hope, because each meal is connected to friends and partners like you who are sending a message that you care. Go here to help:
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