KERRVILLE, Texas – Chris Carrillo, pulpit minister at the Riverside Church of Christ, never imagined he would coordinate disaster relief.
“But here we are,” Carrillo said.
Classrooms that usually host Bible school on Sundays are now stacked with pallets of bleach, heavy duty cleaning wipes, buckets, rubber boots, fans, hygiene products, boxes of food and more.
This has been made possible through donations after the deadly Fourth of July floods that killed more than 100 people and destroyed much of the picturesque Texas Hill Country landscape.
“This is not a sprint,” Carrillo said. “This is a marathon, and we’ve got to be ready to work and to serve and to do things for weeks on end.”
The supplies are stacked and stored in various rooms at the church, some of which have become bedrooms for volunteers who have come from across the country to help in the flood aftermath.
The supplies, however, are not meant to stay at the church. They’re meant for people to take at no cost.
“It’s a real blessing because we can tell people, ‘We can help you.’ How much does it cost? ‘Not a thing.’ What’s the catch? ‘No catch. We want to help, period,’” Carrillo said. “We have the ability. We have manpower, and that’s just a beautiful thing to be able to tell somebody.”
While our KSAT crew visited the Riverside Church of Christ, a woman from Ingram stopped by to pick up supplies.
She heard what the church was doing through word of mouth.
“I was at a thrift store picking up blankets for some other people and one of your church members is the one who told me,” the woman told Carrillo. “She said, ‘Go by my church, and they’ll help you get loaded up and things like that.’”
Carrillo, who has been the pastor at Riverside for roughly a year, asked her what else she needed, — including manpower at her home to help with the cleanup.
“You don’t have to do it alone,” Carrillo told her.
“I know,” she said. “I’m finding that out.”
Volunteers at the church helped her stuff some boxes of supplies. The woman was on her way.
One volunteer, Melissa Copeland — who is also part of the Riverside congregation — said she has seen the needs of flood victims evolve in the weeks since the waters rose.
“In those first few days, it was all about essentials of life. Things like food and water,” Copeland said. “Then, it changed to more hygiene products and things that aren’t essentials for life at first. But they become essential later.”
Supplies have dramatically dwindled in the weeks since the flood, which is what Carrillo hopes to see as more people come to get what they need.
“As we were bringing the pallets in, they were so heavy, full of stuff, that there was glue that started coming up from the from the wood [floor] here,” Carrillo said.
The donations have been organized by volunteers, but not just those who fill the pews on Sunday.
“We have volunteers here right now from all over the country that have cared enough to come here and be a part of this,” Copeland said.
“On the back of our shirts, it says, ‘Here I am, send me,’” Carrillo said. “That’s from Isaiah chapter six, verse eight. It’s exactly what so many people have done.”
More recent coverage of the Hill Country floods on KSAT: