Mercy Chefs plans to serve 10,000 people in Houston on Monday

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Houston emergency crews are cleaning up and assessing flooding after powerful storms ravaged the area last week.

At least seven people died and the storm knocked out power to nearly 800,000 others.

Mercy Chefs, a Portsmouth-based nonprofit, is on the ground as volunteers prepare to feed more than 10,000 people Monday.

Mercy Chefs has been in Houston since Saturday and they’re already making a big impact. On Sunday they had a drive-thru style line for people to pick up food and at one point during the day it stretched over three miles long.

Mercy Chefs is in the hardest hit area, serving thousands of affected people, even visiting two nursing homes without power.

“They don’t know how to cook, it’s hot,” said Gary LeBlanc, founder of Mercy Chefs. “In these nursing homes, they had not had a hot meal since Thursday evening, and when our teams arrived yesterday with food, the people in these nursing homes started to cry. They couldn’t believe that anyone would care enough to bring them delicious, hot meals.

LeBlanc said more than 50 schools are closed due to damage or power outages.

“We see a lot of kids getting free or reduced-price meals in our meal line every day,” LeBlanc said.

Many people have lost everything in their refrigerator due to power outages. LeBlanc said they served about 6,500 people on Sunday and planned to serve more than 10,000 on Monday.

“We can come with everything we need to be completely supported, from electricity to water purification to all the tractor-trailers full of groceries that are coming in,” LeBlanc said .

LeBlanc said one of these tractor-trailers full of groceries costs about $70,000, and at the volume they serve, they’ll get through one in less than a day and a half.

“It’s very expensive, but it’s what we do,” LeBlanc said. “We cannot prepare high-quality meals without high-quality products. »

And some of these high-quality products come directly from Smithfield Foods.

Not only does handmade food provide a nutritious meal, but it also restores hope when it seemed lost for many.

“I love that moment when they open the box because their face lights up,” LeBlanc said.

In addition to their response in Houston, they are still working to help Oklahomans get back on their feet by distributing fresh grocery boxes to those affected.