Nonprofits continue to serve while also navigating North Texas storm aftermath: Helping the Helpers
NORTH TEXAS — A mixture of relief and celebration filled the courtyard of Dallas nonprofit Our Calling, as clients feasted on a food truck-prepared lunch. Hot dogs, mac and cheese, baked beans with brisket meat, mashed potatoes and cake were all served to the community with a side of creativity.
"We took some of the meat that had already thawed out that we can't refreeze and found creative ways to be able to cook it with a food truck in our parking lot," said Our Calling CEO Pastor Wayne Walker.
Days after a severe spring storm left some half million customers in the dark, Oncor crews are still working to restore power.
Although progress has been made, tens of thousands of customers in hardest hit areas may not have power restored until Saturday. And the wicked weather spared no one — not even the nonprofits working in all seasons to serve those most in need.
"The need doesn't go away," Walker said. "In fact, it's heightened."
Power to the downtown Our Calling facility was out from Tuesday morning until early Friday. And Walker is applauding the staff and volunteers who, even without power in their own homes, still showed up to serve.
"You know, it's just a blessing every day to know that we have a team that's flexible, to be able to work through the power loss, to be able to work through the challenges..." Walker said. "..To figure out how do we get porta potties and how do we get food, and can we throw away food that we paid good money for, trusting that the neighbors are going to provide so that we can buy that food again?"
It is always a challenge meeting the needs of the most vulnerable in the community, Walker shares, whether unhoused or just needing help.
"It's been pretty hard," said Tonelsa Hughes. "Trying to get hot food, trying to stay cool... electricity and everything is out."
It's a crisis that's been playing out for days across North Texas.
"We're working to make sure that all of our families have the opportunity to recover after this storm," said Abbie Kauffman, president & CEO of Network of Community Ministries.
A designated Disaster Resource Center for neighborhoods feeding into Richardson ISD, the group has helped several hundred clients with everything from hotel stays to debris removal and more.
"For our families who are already food insecure or already living paycheck to paycheck, a crisis like this can just push them right to the brink," said Kauffman. "So when the food spoils in the refrigerator, that's hundreds of dollars worth of groceries that they're not able to recover."
And the losses aren't limited to individual families. Leaders at Our Calling say they cooked as much of the thawing food as they could but are still looking at the costly loss of supplies.
"We need people to go to online at OurCalling.org and donate so that we can buy more food, so that we can buy the things that we lost in the weather, so that we can repair some of the damages we've had around here," said Walker, who also put out an appeal for volunteers. "We need the entire community to work together to love our neighbors as well."