“On Wednesday, the rain finally came to a stop for the most part. We were all in shock, I think. My sister was getting updates on her home to find out if it had flooded. Out of the blue I received a call around 4:30 p.m. from Olivia with Operation BBQ Relief, an organization out of Memphis. She had been referred to me by a fellow realtor I was connected with on a national real estate Facebook page. They were set up in Houston, cooking for thousands of people, and wanted to see if Baytown needed food. All we needed was to get the hot food picked up, and to figure out where and how to distribute it. I looked at my sister, Ginger Mashburn, and said, ‘Oh my God, this is huge, but I think we can do it. Where do we start?’ I thought of a friend who has many connections in the community and thought, ‘If anyone can help me figure this out, she can.’ Her name is Alicia Trant, a district coordinator with AFLAC. The moment I contacted her she got to work making calls. The next thing I knew, she had arranged transport for over 3,000 meals. All I had to do was coordinate things here in town — find shelters and neighborhoods that needed food, and gather volunteers.

“Of course, that same day, our cell service went out. Thankfully, my sister had a different carrier, and she immediately got on the phone calling shelters all over the area, getting head counts, confirming their needs for meals and making lists. I took to Facebook via wi-fi and started begging for help from anyone on my friends list and beyond. And so it began. Throughout the night, the word spread. We received messages from people wanting to help and from groups who needed meals. Sleep was optional, as I kept trying to organize in my mind. On Thursday morning, we got up, ate two boiled eggs and hit the ground running. First stop was Dollar Tree, where we loaded up on serving utensils, foil and anything else we thought may come in handy. We got hugs, high fives and lots of ‘God bless you’ wishes from the employees. We then headed out to the parking lot at San Jacinto Mall. We were met by friends I haven’t seen in years and tons of people I had never met. Even one of my former kindergarten students from St. Joseph School (who is now in high school) had come. And we waited for the food to arrive.

“Alicia and her family and crew arrived in a convoy of trucks and trailers with the food, and our organized chaos began. Operation BBQ had given us even more than we had planned for — enough food for 1,800 meals. We mobilized and started making plates of food, quickly realizing we would need lots of to-go containers. The manager of Chili’s walked over and asked, ‘What’s going on here and what can I do to help?’ Throughout the day he shared everything he could with us. Volunteers visited restaurants all around us and came back with stacks, bags and boxes full of containers and supplies. And we kept working, making plates, sending out deliveries according to our lists, taking calls and messages. As we began to run out of the first load of food, we started planning for round two. We cleaned up, moved our station under the trees, and all the volunteers left to take a break. My sister and I did the same. We ran home to let the dogs out, then to grab a quick bite to eat. We got the call while eating that the second round of food, another 1,800 meals, was on its way. Back to the parking lot we went, armed with more tables and a new dose of miraculous energy.

“Volunteers came from every direction. Some had been with us all morning, others had just made it here from other locations. And we all got to work making plates, loading vehicles and delivering hot meals. From a volunteer who was working from home we got a list of local hotels with evacuees who needed meals, and those meals went out to them. We started to receive visitors asking if we had food we could share. Of course we did. We even had people stop and ask if they could donate money to buy plates. This money was given directly back to Operation BBQ Relief to aid in their efforts. It was a hot, fast-moving whirlwind. At one point, someone messaged me to ask what we needed. I said, ‘To-go containers. We have tapped out local restaurants.’ The next thing I knew, a truck stopped, dropped off probably 300 containers, and left before I could even say thank you. There was need everywhere, but also help being offered.

“As we were cleaning up after the last meals had gone out for delivery, a Baytown Police Department officer came up, lights flashing. ‘Uh-oh,’ we thought. ‘Did we need a permit?’ No worries. This fine officer saw the large group of children who were here with their parents, helping and never complaining. He greeted them with badge stickers, high fives and tons of encouragement. Photos were taken and then he was on his way.

“In the hours and days after that, I’ve received many messages of thanks. Someone said I was a hero. I don’t think so at all. I’m a local realtor who grew up in Highlands, and my heart and soul was hurting for everyone in our community. With less than 15 hours of planning time, WE managed to feed 3,600 people in Baytown, Mont Belvieu and Highlands. All I did was take an opportunity and run with it. My husband had spent two days in a boat with his best friend rescuing people and saving lives. I wanted to help, and a chance to do just that fell in my lap. I had no clue what I was doing. But thanks to God’s grace and some amazing people, WE made it happen.

“Alicia Trant and her crew were instrumental. We couldn’t have done it without them getting the food here and helping us the entire day. My sister kept telling me, ‘Good job.’ I told her she played just as big a part in this as I did. All of the volunteers who showed up and worked tirelessly to do anything and everything needed were priceless. There were smiles, laughter, plenty of tears, and lots of sweat and sore feet. But together WE did it. Because we are, and will always be, Baytown strong.

“In the days after, Alicia and her crew began taking meals from Operation BBQ Relief east into Beaumont, Port Arthur and Lumberton. I stayed behind to care for my family, as their home had experienced flooding damage, and my mom was sent home from the hospital during the demo operation. But I did all I could remotely and continue to do so. I route loads of supplies to where they are needed and help direct anyone in need to resources. I will not stop doing all that I can to help this beautiful city. I could go on for days about what I’ve seen and what I’ve learned. I am blessed and will always carry these lessons in my heart. This is the motivation that will drive me forward for a very long time.

— Gay Lynn Milliorn

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It’s been a busy week for Angela Franco and her husband, John Gomez. Like countless others around our community, they have rolled up their sleeves — and their pant legs when needed — to help make sure that those in need are safe and well fed.

“I’m a nurse, and a CPR and first aid instructor. I also own a child-care facility in Highlands. So when this all started, I had a natural instinct to help others. It did not feel right to sit at home. Saturday morning my husband and I went out with a friend on his boat. We made it to Meadowlake Village, and we started rescuing people. At one point a lady was showing signs of a heart attack. I went into her home, got her meds and kept her stable. We loaded her into a side-by-side to move her to drier ground, and I stayed with her until first responders got there.

“On Sunday we began cooking for first responders and volunteers. We delivered food to three different fire stations using our cousin’s lifted Jeep to make it through the high water. When we got to the fire station on Garth Road, they were filled with so much joy. I felt blessed to be able to help them.”

After a few more rescues and a close call of their own, they decided that they were better suited to cook than rescue. Their pit has been fired up and going non-stop ever since. They cooked for residents in Pinehurst on Thursday, and they were at The Chute today cooking for those who needed a hot meal.

“On Thursday we were serving a family with small children. I smiled and said, ‘Hi, sweetie,’ to this little girl. She jumped out of her car seat, wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me so hard. She didn’t want to let go. Her mom said she was so upset because her baby dolls were wet and ruined, and she had nothing to play with. She was too young to understand why.

“Since I run a childcare, I just so happened to have a bag of stuffed animals and puppets, and a baby doll. When I gave the doll to her, the light in her eyes was amazing. It turned out that the doll was exactly like the one she had lost in the flooding. At that point, it all made sense why we were doing what we were doing. My home was not affected by flooding at all, but my heart sure was. Cooking was the best way we knew how to help. We know these families lost everything and were not able to cook, so we stepped in.

“I grew up in this town. This is our home. We’re Baytown strong. And I wanted to teach my kids that this is what we do as Texans.

— Angela Franco

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“As soon as I walked in my first question was, ‘What do we need?’ As one of the other volunteers was telling me, I was posting it on Facebook and asking people to share. Because at this time, we had no blankets. We had absolutely no food to give these people. We had no socks. We had no dry towels. We had no clothes. We had nothing but a roof, tables and chairs, and some working bathrooms. But as soon as people in our community heard about the need, that’s when the walls of destruction came down and the overflow of blessings came in.

“And some of the volunteers who showed up were going through their own devastation. Yet they dropped everything to come in and help people that they didn’t even know. Those are the heroes. Those are the servants. Those are the ones who are unselfish. I saw many, many people who were very, very unselfish. It’s very humbling to see a community finally come together like we’re supposed to. It was a beautiful thing to behold.”

— Teresa McCartney

Teresa is one of countless people in the community who have stepped up to help — from rescuing families to providing temporary housing to volunteering at shelters to donating needed items. Among those she praised were two local police officers, Desiree Stanislas and Eric Filyaw, who went “above and beyond” by spending their own money to purchase food and other items for evacuees. The pair also helped prepare and serve dinner plates.

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Being active in the community comes natural for these sisters. Participation in student clubs and service groups has kept them quite busy in recent years. Their latest endeavor is to volunteer/foster with A Life to Live, a local non-profit organization that saves the lives of homeless cats and dogs.

“We’ve always loved animals. We grew up with dogs, goats, chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, you name it. It was always like a mini-farm at our house.”

“We see a lot of strays, and we know there are too many animals that are losing their lives. So we want to be part of something to help make a positive change. One animal at a time, right?”

— Crisol (right) and Edith Napoles

A Life to Live would appreciate additional volunteers and fosters to support its no-kill mission.

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