Valley volunteers send supplies to Houston for Beryl victims

PHARR, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Volunteers in the Rio Grande Valley are helping those in Houston who were affected by Beryl.

Many people across the valley are now stepping up to help with the cleanup and recovery efforts in the area.

The American Red Cross in Harlingen is sending more than a dozen volunteers to the Houston area to help with relief efforts.

Executive Director Kayla Gonzalez says volunteers are working with Houston leaders to provide a broader range of care.

“We had to take shelter, communicate with local authorities, anywhere, provide food and hot meals to affected families.”

Although Gonzalez is not part of the group heading north, she does her best to help from a distance.

“Almost like an elected official liaison. I send emails to their judges to make sure everything is okay, if they need anything.”

In Pharr, Home Depot manager Roy Sendejo organized the packing of care kits bound for Houston. He said with the number of people helping, they finished in record time and made it possible to ship faster.

“To get this all up and running within 24 hours, we reached out to Team Depot, which works with local and national nonprofits. So we were able to secure a grant yesterday to do this and help the Houston community,” Sendejo said.

Several local workers, paramedics and police officers are present in Houston to provide assistance.