While first responders and civilian volunteers helped rescue thousands of Houstonians from dangerous high-water situations, the city’s restaurants quickly mobilized to ensure that every single volunteer and public servant had something to eat.
The efforts began over the weekend, with local chefs and restaurants making surprise deliveries of food to shelters and police stations across the city. On Monday, employees at Frank’s Pizza braved the flooding in Downtown to bring piping-hot pizzas to Houston police officers. On Monday, when the police department’s official Twitter account announced that it was looking to buy meals from local restaurants to feed its employees, dozens of restaurants replied, offering to feed first responders for free.
A number of local restaurants, including Down House and West Alabama Ice House, have served as drop-off centers for donated goods. In order to fully coalesce these efforts, Chef Richard Knight, formerly of Hunky Dory, and Houston Food Finder’s Phaedra Cook took to Facebook to mobilize service industry professionals in order to provide help in an organized fashion. At the same time, Knight was using his vehicle and canoe to assist with water rescues.