Mission Texans Serve Meals in Houston After Hurricane Beryl | News

What’s it like to prepare 10,000 meals in one day? Ask Michael Gillert of Athens next week, after he returns from volunteering with Texans on Mission to help Houston residents affected by Hurricane Beryl.

Gillert arrived in Houston on Tuesday and prepared 5,000 meals on Wednesday, and thanks to the response, the team prepared 10,000 meals on Thursday.

Gilbert began working with the Mission Texans, formerly known as the Texas Baptist Men, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005, feeding large groups of evacuees and people displaced by the storm.

“The Houstonians we are helping are in a similar situation: They are without power and have no way to get food locally for a period of time,” he said.

In addition to preparing meals, Gillert also worked with Texans from Mission chainsaw crews in Tyler earlier this year, removing trees from homes after severe storms hit the area.

“That’s kind of my thing — I consider myself a professional volunteer, working with the Texas Baptist Men and their church, trying to help people who need help,” he said.

The catering team can serve anywhere from a few thousand to 30,000 people a day, Gillert said.

“We prepare the food and the Salvation Army delivers it to people,” he said. “They do 15 different rounds to get the food to people in the affected areas.”

Gillert drives a forklift to remove food from trailers and transport the prepared food on pallets to be picked up by Salvation Army vans and trucks, which then deliver the meals to people in areas without power.

“It’s gratifying,” he said.

The warehouses where Gilbert’s team works are also without electricity and have to run on generators.

“We’re staying in a small trailer with bunks for 11 people,” he said. “Other people are inside with fans powered by big generators. It’s not the most comfortable place, but that’s what we do.”

Meanwhile, in Houston, nearly 1 million people (as of press time Friday) are still without power as power line construction crews struggle to restore power to their homes. A CenterPoint official said about 500,000 customers won’t have power until next week.

“Things are moving slowly in some areas,” Gillert said. “You see grocery stores — the few that are open — and the parking lots are packed. You can’t park another car in there because they’re so full.”

Shopping malls and other places are also empty because there is no electricity, he added.

“So people have to drive to Conroe from Houston to get gas,” he said. “They have generators, but they don’t have gas for them and they’re waiting in line for 30 or 40 minutes to get their generators going.”

Refrigerators and freezers are now full of rotting food, Gillert said.

“And of course, there’s the typical stuff: Trees have fallen on power lines and hundreds of power line workers from all over the country have come down to Houston to help their neighbors,” he said. “That’s kind of what we do. This is not our home, but these people are our neighbors and that’s what God tells us to do: help our neighbors.”

Gillert said he will be in Houston until next Tuesday and another team will come in Sunday or Monday to take over for his team.

“It all depends on how long the power outage lasts,” he said. “The power comes back, but it’s going to take a while to fully restore, and people are still going to need food, so we’ll stay here as long as we need to — maybe another week, maybe two.”

“One of the reasons we do this is our faith. We believe that we should help others in need, and that’s where our satisfaction in life comes from, in helping others.”

Gillert said if you want to help Texans with a Mission, or another organization, like a food pantry, or anything you can do, it’s always appreciated.

“There is a huge need here and it will be months before everything is back up here,” he said.