'I don't have a boat or a ton of cash, but I have a heart'

“During the hurricane, I watched news coverage from the safety of my home. I felt helpless to try to offer aid and guilty that I was safe while others were suffering. I don’t have a boat or a ton of cash, but I have a heart, a soul and talent that I can offer. So I’m hoping that this piece will raise some money that can, at least in some small way, help someone rebuild their life. I hope it speaks to the heart of Texas and our ability to love our neighbors.”

— Chris Foreman

Chris is a comic sketch artist who created and donated this cover piece to the Hurricane Harvey Charity Art Challenge being organized by Comic Collateral. The auction is scheduled to start on Sept. 29.

'There is still so much work to be done in south Texas'

The past few weeks, so many stories have been shared of people helping people during and after Hurricane Harvey. No doubt, there are countless more that most of us will never hear about. But in each case, someone was positively impacted because someone else took the time to extend a hand.

Kaye and Richard Sneed in Mont Belvieu hosted two couples that hopped in their cars and drove from Fort Worth to do their part in Baytown.

Former Baytown resident Britt Elliott and his wife, Sahar, joined friends Tiffany and Derek Burke on the recent trip. They brought with them baby strollers, baby and toddler car seats, diapers and other baby items that were donated by friends in Fort Worth.

The couples worked in the Pinehurst subdivision assisting an elderly woman who lives alone, and they helped a single mom in Legends Bay. They donated money to a family in need, and they also made and served hundreds of sandwiches to families working tirelessly to put their lives back together.

Two weeks earlier, Britt, Derek and two other friends were in town to assist with rescues.

“We met some amazing people who touched our lives as much as we did theirs. Each and every person we met was so incredibly grateful for us being there,” Derek said.

“There is still so much work to be done in south Texas, so let’s not stop helping or forget about them.”

Britt co-owns a roofing and construction company in Fort Worth, and Sahar is completing her bachelor’s degree in nursing. Derek and Tiffany own a photography studio.

“Britt’s mom and dad and I have stayed friends all these years. When they called and said they were coming, I just offered them a place to stay and to feed them,” Kaye said.

The community is rebuilding homes and lives thanks in no small part to individual acts of kindness like these.

'I knew if the water was high, I'd get calls to help rescue'

When Kyle Cervenka left work that Friday, he picked up his airboat and hauled it to his home in El Lago. Hurricane Harvey was coming, so he wanted to be prepared.

“I’ve owned airboats for years. I do a lot of flounder gigging, bow fishing and duck hunting out of the custom built boat I have now,” said Kyle, 47, who grew up in Baytown. “I knew if the rain was bad and the water was high, I’d get calls to help rescue.”

The first call came about 1:30 Sunday morning.

Kyle loaded up and headed out with a friend to the I-45 feeder road not far from his home, where they made 17 rescues.

That was just the tip of the iceberg.

“We ran hard for seven straight days before my airboat just couldn’t take it anymore. I’d say that my buddies and I picked up between 600 and 700 people total,” said Kyle, who worked alongside friends Jimmy Keyes, Jason Koehn and Josh Tauber.

Their areas of focus shifted as the calls came in.

They made lots of rescues in Dickinson, where the water quickly rose to dangerous levels.

“When we got there, it was probably chest deep in places. Before we left, it was on rooftops. We were picking up kids out of second story windows and off rooftops,” Kyle said.

They headed over to Highway 90 at Tidwell, in the C.E. King area, to help move a lot more people to safe locations.

As the week progressed, they found themselves farther from home in Port Arthur. Their main mission was to help evacuate nursing homes.

“Lake Arthur Place is where we worked the most. Most of the people we picked up there were 100 percent bedridden. We were able to load their whole beds on the front of my boat,” Kyle said.

“We actually transported one lady who needed care all the way to a hospital. I drove my airboat right up to the hospital entrance on concrete. It was pretty crazy.”

Helping those elderly patients really touched Kyle’s heart.

“Because my parents are older, all I could think about was what if my mother was in a situation like that,” he said.

Another rescue that stays with Kyle was when they assisted a Marine veteran who recently had open-heart surgery.

“He still had the staples in him. To get him to higher ground was pretty moving. It kind of makes me tear up even now thinking about it,” he said.

When fuel was an issue to keep the airboat running, Kyle posted calls for help on Facebook. It wasn’t long before people stepped up to the challenge.

“They would meet us with 5- or 6-gallon cans full of gas. Those donations kept us going when we couldn’t find fuel at service stations,” he said.

Kyle credits his close friends for working together as a team to save so many people during the week. They were all tired, but they kept on going.

In addition to rescuing people, they helped one of Kyle’s hunting buddies by delivering hay and range cubes to some hungry stranded cattle.

Because of all the devastation and the emotions stirred up by Hurricane Harvey, Kyle admits to having a few bad dreams in the days following their work. While returning to his regular job as a sales manager for a construction company was challenging at first, he’s “getting back in the groove” now.

“I’m back up and going strong this week,” he said. “I’m glad to be back at work, back to a more normal routine.”

Helping hands extend from Southport, Indiana, to Baytown

Southport Police Department Chief Tom Vaughn and his wife, Jane

Starting with a simple social media connection, two communities in pain joined forces to help hundreds of families impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

“About seven years ago, I became Facebook friends with a lady named Angie in Indiana through one of the FarmVille games, believe it or not. We kept in touch and always joked around about politics and different things,” Jerry Cates said.

“She’s very much involved with the Southport, Indiana, Police Department, and does a lot of volunteer work. That’s how I learned that they were looking to help out somewhere down here after the hurricane.”

As Baytown and surrounding communities were dealing with the aftermath of Harvey, Southport — a town of about 2,500 just outside Indianapolis — was still coming to grips with a recent tragedy.

Lt. Aaron Allan of the city’s police department was killed on July 27 while trying to help at the scene of a car accident.

Lt. Aaron Allan

“He went to a car that was inverted in a crash. After he climbed in to help, the guy pulled a gun and shot him 12 times. It took Aaron’s life,” said Tom Vaughn, Southport police chief.

“Our community came out and overwhelmed us with food, gifts and memorials. Anything we needed, the people from our town were there. So when the hurricane happened down here, we were trying to find some way to give back to a community that was devastated like we were. We reached out to the same people who were really good to us, and they said, ‘Oh, we’d love to do that.’ They filled our whole garage with stuff.”

Cates, who works at Bay Area Rehabilitation Center in Baytown, got the OK to make BARC the distribution point for a truckload of supplies that arrived on Sept. 8.

“We didn’t really think about it. We worked all day, and then we just jumped in our vehicles and drove straight through,” said Vaughn, who was joined by his wife, Jane, and several officers in making the 1,046-mile trip that took more than 15 hours.

Opportunity Center clients, BARC staff and volunteers were busy throughout the day. First, they handed out cleaning supplies donated by ExxonMobil. Then, after the Southport team arrived early afternoon and they helped unload the truck, they distributed water and a range of household items to more than 200 carloads of families.

Jerry Cates (right) joins others to help unload the truck.

All of the supplies were stacked in a building that is normally used for job training for adults with disabilities in the Opportunity Center program. Among other things, they construct industrial-strength pallets that are sold to ExxonMobil.

While Cates made the initial connection that got the ball rolling, “this was really a collaborative effort between Southport Police Department and Baytown PD for our community. They communicated a lot in the background. We were just glad to assist in making it possible,” he said.

Special items that made the long trip were three big bags of stuffed bears that were donated in Allan’s memory. He had earned the nickname Teddy Bear for going out of his way to help local families.

Vaughn recalled how Allan, 38, had met a family whose car wouldn’t start. The husband had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, the wife wasn't working while she cared for him, and they had a 3-year-old daughter.

Allan went to an auto parts store and bought them a new car battery using his own money. Then he asked the chief whether the department could further help the family.

The police department threw the little girl a party at Chuck E. Cheese’s, with pizza and tokens, and police cruisers filled with toys.

Teddy bears were handed out to honor the fallen officer.

“You’re just a big teddy bear,” Vaughn’s wife said to Allan. And the nickname stuck.

Allan’s wife asked that the teddy bears be handed out to children in need. “So we thought, there’s no better opportunity to give away a bunch of them than right here,” Vaughn said.

After grabbing something to eat and resting for a couple hours, the Southport crew jumped back in their vehicles to make the return trip home.

“We need to get back for a fundraiser,” Vaughn said. “It’s for Aaron’s wife and kids.”

View the “end of watch” call for Southport Police Department Lt. Aaron Allan.

'Someone said I was a hero; I don’t think so at all'

“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

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts or experiences related to this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

'Cheese wasn't important and neither were cell phones'

“In the predawn hours of Sunday, August 27, I decided that I would peek outside. The torrential rains from Harvey had been pounding for several hours. Supposedly my house is not in the floodplain, but I poked my head out to see water halfway between the street and my front door. An hour later it was three-fourths of the way up. I woke up my wife and began ‘water watch.’ In case we needed to evacuate with our son, my wife’s mother and two beagles. It wasn’t long after that I saw my cousin post on Facebook that their house had just flooded. The water came about 3 feet from my front door before the rain slacked enough for it to recede.

“In the days following Harvey, I complained once that my cell service was not working. (In fairness, I do have two medical devices linked to my phone that are a necessity and not a convenience.) I got a huge wake-up call about my selfish attitude. The same day I was feeling frustrated about my phone, I encountered a woman in Jack in the Box ranting and screaming at the manager about the amount of cheese (or lack thereof) on her potato wedges. I was grateful that JITB was open, even with a limited menu. The lady throwing a fit put it quickly into perspective. Cheese wasn’t important and neither were cell phones amidst the destruction in Baytown. I asked God to forgive me for my selfish attitude.

“Seeing my hometown ravaged became heartbreaking. I decided to volunteer my time at our church (Rollingbrook Fellowship, First Baptist) in the relief effort. I found it at least a small way I could help. I reflect to that Sunday morning as the water was encroaching on my front door and now know that ‘too close for comfort’ is certainly ‘far enough away.’ At church on Sunday, I thanked God for the fact the water stopped short of my front door and prayed (and continue to do so) for those who lost their homes.” 

— James Kingsmill 

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts or experiences related to this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

'I was feeling devastated, overwhelmed and a bit broken-hearted'

Hurricane Harvey wasn’t picky when he came charging through Texas this past week. Many homes across the area were impacted, including those belonging to foster families caring for cats and dogs saved by A Life to Live.

Early Tuesday morning, Deanna Domingue discovered a mess in the bathroom of her Pasadena home. Roof leaks led to a ceiling cave-in.

“I was feeling devastated, overwhelmed and a bit broken-spirited. But I knew that I still had it better than a lot of others. My house did not flood. I still had food and a roof over my head,” she said.

She also had the companionship of her five pets, including foster dogs, Sasha and Ceres. “The girls were champs throughout the whole thing,” Deanna said.

Along with her personal pets — dog Prim and cats Callie and Isis — they handled the storm quite well and are all doing fine.

After co-workers helped to cover the affected portions of her roof, Deanna found time to buy diapers for a local people shelter, and she gathered blankets to donate to Baytown Animal Shelter and other area shelters.

With recovery efforts underway throughout the area, A Life to Live continues working to save the lives of local animals. Check out available adoptable pets at https://www.adopttosave.org/.

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts or experiences related to this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

'I had a natural instinct to help; it did not feel right to sit at home'

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

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts or experiences related to this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.

'It breaks my heart to see what's going on in Baytown'

“We have a 1-month-old son, and we were scared of losing power. So we left last Thursday before Harvey made landfall. We loaded up with my mother and sister-in-law, and we came to Tyler since my wife has family up here about 30 minutes away. When we left, we thought we’d only be gone until Tuesday. We are still in Tyler, but we don’t know what we will be returning to. From what we understand, our apartments were flooded pretty badly. But we will make it through whatever we have to with our son. We are just taking it day by day.

“While we’ve been in a hotel room, we’ve been watching the news and Facebook, and seeing all the devastation. It’s killed us. It breaks my heart to see what’s going on in Baytown especially. I feel helpless. We’ve been living in Pasadena, but Baytown is still my home. I want to be able to help. When we get back, after assessing our own damage, I will be searching for cleanup crews to help the people affected. That’s all I want right now, is to help my friends and family in the Baytown/Houston area.”

How has your son handled the situation?
“Actually, the hardest part for him was the four-hour car ride to get here. He’s not a big fan of car seats. But while we’ve been up here, I think having his mommy, daddy, Nana and Pawpa here all together has made him very comfy. He’s been laughing and smiling a lot. He does miss his own bed, though. He’s making the best of it.”

— Louis Gnagy

Louis, his wife, Taylor, and their son, Jude, have been treated well while in Tyler. “The hospitality and support of the local people has been overwhelming.”

Hurricane Harvey is having a major impact on the lives of people in Baytown and surrounding communities. If you would like to share your thoughts or experiences related to this historic weather event, send us a message on our Facebook or Instagram pages or email baytownproject@gmail.com.