After a natural disaster, communities need a lot of support to help with everything from clearing debris to rebuilding, and part of the challenge is connecting generous donations with the charities on the ground that can help.
The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country serves a 10-county region and acts like a funnel for those donations. They take in money — including $20,000 from The Scripps Howard Fund — and distribute it to vetted non-profits.
"We've got a job to do to support this community in the best way we can, and for us, that's a philanthropic way. We are in the business of raising money for this community, because we're going to need it to fulfill the long-term recovery efforts that are in front of us," explained Jayne Zirkel, the events and marketing manager for The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country.
Their Kerr County Flood Relief Fund has received over $60 million from over 115,000 donors, and they've already distributed two rounds of grant funding.
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"We gave to five volunteer fire departments in that first round, the ones that were along the Guadalupe that were right in the thick of it, from July 4 on," Zirkel said.
Some of those early funds ended up in the hands of restaurant owner Tomas Valdes. He owns 1011 Bistro in Kerrville, and it sits right on the Guadalupe River.
He was out of the country when the flood hit, but his manager called him early in the morning on July 4 and said he thought the bistro was flooded. Valdes drove back home right away and got to his restaurant that evening.
"When we got here and walked into the restaurant, it was just terrible. I imagined it was going to be bad, but it was just a lot worse," Valdes recalled.
The first floor of the building, which housed food and wine storage and Valdes' office, was completely under water. The water reached waist high on the second floor, destroying all the equipment in the kitchen and significantly damaging the dining room.
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Without power to the restaurant, Valdes can't assess what does and doesn't work. So there's no timeline yet on how long rebuilding will take or how much it will cost. Without flood insurance coverage, Valdes and his team will have to come up with every penny, but he is committed to reopening.
"We got a lot of support, texts, phone calls, emails from customers and our friends here in Kerrville. And everybody wants us to reopen, and we got the message loud and clear," Valdes said.
Tune in Thursday at 5 p.m. ET to watch "Texas Flood Tragedy: The Aftermath," a Scripps News Group Special Report.
