Mercy Chefs provides meals, prayers for Texas flood victims and first responders
In the heart of the Texas Hill Country, where there is so much pain, people are coming up with ways to make life in a disaster zone a little bit better for everyone affected.
In Kerrville, there are many people arriving for immediate search and rescue needs, while other groups assist them and the flood victims.
Five days of searching the Guadalupe River takes a heavy physical and emotional toll on first responders and volunteers.
But a collective of highly trained chefs is working to ensure that the thousands helping in the Hill Country are supported in little ways that make a big difference.
An offer of a prayer and a good meal are simple gestures but essential needs for people like Robert Kimbrough whose home was destroyed by the July Fourth flood in Kerrville.
"We have been washed out, and we're cleaning out our house," said Kimbrough. "We don't have anything to cook on we come up here to get food these people are fantastic and a lot of people would be going hungry without them
Kimbrough is just one of the Hill Country flood victims grateful for Mercy Chefs and its staff of relief workers who have been feeding them and rescue workers over the last five days.
Chef Jaime Arevalo left a career at hotel restaurants and a catering business in Austin to join a disaster relief organization that offers high-quality, handcrafted, chef-produced meals wherever a crisis calls for them.
The amount of food that can be cooked in the trailer, which sits in the parking lot of a Kerrville church, is staggering.
Volunteers pack the meals that are almost always handed to someone in a hurry with a greater purpose other than worrying about where to get breakfast, lunch or dinner.
"We've worked about 360 disasters in 28 states and also around the world," said Gary LeBlanc, the Mercy Chefs founder. "We just believe amazing things happen over a shared meal. And to be able to do that with somebody on potentially the worst day of their life is very important for us."
Monday, 3,900 meals were served and more than 4,000 are expected to be handed out Tuesday, giving an idea of just how many people are either affected by or have responded to the devastating floods.
"Somebody was helping in here just the other day," said Arevalo. "He lost everything, they lost everything, and then they're here volunteering their time to help others in need. If that doesn't fill your tank to continue doing this, I don't know what will. That is the reason why we do it."
A meal made with love and extra attention won't ease the pain that so many people are suffering, but it does help.
