Hurricane Harvey has devastated the Texas coastline from Corpus Christi to Houston while uprooting thousands of families in between the two cities. For many residents, their businesses and homes have been completely destroyed. Some areas were hit hard by the hurricane winds. Others had walls torn down by rising and rushing water. According to this article from Fortune.com, the financial impact of Hurricane Harvey could top $180 billion.
While there has been a level of destruction and damage the likes we haven’t seen in the United States since Hurricane Katrina there are always examples of the resilience of the human spirit that go on display when events like this happen. Times like these remind us everyone is in this thing together and that we share more similarities than differences.
Hurricane Harvey & Food Trucks
One such example that’s come out of Hurricane Harvey is the story of local food Texas trucks that have donated their time and equipment to serve the residents of their community. Instead of closing up shop these small business owners have mobilized their eateries to deliver much needed meals to areas that have been impacted the most. It’s important to point out as well that these are not Fortune 500 funded companies, but sole proprietors that are operating without the help of multi-million dollar advertising budgets. Their contributions are literally coming out of their own pockets. More often than not they are already donating their time, money, and equipment without any compensation or media attention for their important work.
Texas resident Joel Paprocki of InsureMyFood.com saw first-hand how local food trucks were helping their communities and mobilized a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds to help local food trucks serve even more people impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Below is a description of this initiative published on the You Caring page:
As we all know, Hurricane Harvey struck the coast of Texas earlier this week leaving many without food and water. Several Texas based food trucks and trailers have graciously volunteered to donate their time and vehicles to provide food for those desperately in need in the small coastal towns that are still in the process of being evacuated.
Monies raised will go directly to the cost of food and drinks that will be served to evacuees and first responders from the trucks and trailers that have volunteered their time. These individuals need our help and this is a great, tangible way to contribute from all parts of the country. The trucks will deploy to several different smaller cities along the coast that may not be receiving the national attention but are still in need of help. Thank you so much for your support, a donation as small as $5 will feed someone and make a difference!
In addition to the crowd funding campaign organizations like InsureMyFood.com, 5000 Burnett, and Cincinnati Food Truck Association, and U.S. Food Truck Fest have all made significant financial contributions to the cause. As the crowdfunding campaign states, it only takes a contribution of $5 to feed someone and any additional shares on social media makes an impact as well.
