KERR COUNTY, Texas – Mercy Chefs, a Virginia-based disaster relief organization, announced the opening of a long-term recovery kitchen in Kerr County following the Fourth of July floods.
The Beacon of Hope kitchen will be located at the Light on the Hill at Mount Wesley, 610 Methodist Encampment Road in Kerrville. The kitchen will serve fresh, chef-prepared meals through December 2025.
It is expected to open by Aug. 4.
During a news conference on Friday, Anne LeBlanc, co-founder and president of Mercy Chefs, expressed gratitude to the community and partners for their support.
Mercy Chefs was one of the first nonprofit organizations that stepped in to help the community and first responders following the Guadalupe River flooding that killed more than 100 people.
“We just want to thank City West Church for their hospitality to us, having us set up here in their parking lot,” she said. “Today, we will cross over 60,000 meals served here in the community. We’ve been honored to do that.”
Her husband and Mercy Chefs founder, chef Gary LeBlanc, highlighted the organization’s commitment to Kerr County’s long-term recovery.
“Sometimes it’s not enough for us to be there for a few weeks. Sometimes it is not enough to be for us for a few months,” LeBlanc said. “So we’ve stayed in places for years that they’ve needed us. Mercy Chefs believes that Kerr County is gonna need us much longer than the immediate response.”
Beacon of Hope will operate out of Light on the Hill, a Methodist retreat center with a fully equipped kitchen. Mercy Chefs plans to upgrade the kitchen, absorb some of the retreat center’s staff, and continue cooking meals for the county while building a permanent kitchen facility.
The group’s work at City West Church in Ingram will remain a key distribution site throughout the transition, with no interruptions to meal service.
Mercy Chefs said the flooding “has intensified an already critical food insecurity crisis in the region.” Citing Feeding America data, the nonprofit estimates that before the flooding in Kerr County, about 9,300 people were experiencing food insecurity.
You can watch the full press conference in the video player below:
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