By TRINA “INDI” JOHNSON
Special to the PRESS
Calls for help traveled south, and the Island answered.
In the days following catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River, a growing patchwork of people and organizations from South Padre and Port Isabel began quietly mobilizing. Some are filling trucks. Others are collecting gift cards or delivering hot meals to tired first responders. But all are moving with urgency, with purpose, and with heart.
Outside D’ Pizza Joint, donations have been trickling in under the morning sun and then arriving in waves. The drop-off site, launched by Michael Sularz, is collecting only what’s needed most. “We desperately need mosquito spray/Off Deep Woods. We need cleaning supplies. We need toiletries. We need towels. We need gloves. We need N95 masks,” Sularz posted. “We don’t need clothing, at this time.” What’s gathered will be loaded and taken north to Kerr County. Sularz thanked Ginny Stapleton and the Upper Deck staff, Allen Sularz, Tom Bainter from Simply Goods, and U-Haul for helping make it happen.
Just across the causeway, Point Isabel Independent School District is leading an effort shaped by simplicity and care: gift cards tucked into small envelopes with handwritten notes from the coast. The district is accepting cards from H-E-B, Walmart, and Amazon, with plans to hand-deliver them to flood-affected families on Friday. “We’ll have gift card holders available so you can include a note of encouragement to brighten someone’s day,” their announcement read. Donations were dropped off at the PIISD central office from Monday to Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, a caravan is forming. John Rourke and his team from the We Fund The Blue Foundation are on the ground, bringing emergency aid, financial assistance, and equipment for fire departments whose gear was lost or damaged in the floodwaters. A flyer from the group reads, in part, “Families have lost everything.
Local volunteer fire departments are without critical gear. Our fellow Americans need immediate relief.” The foundation has already raised $20,000 to support relief work in Kerrville and surrounding areas.
Others rolled up behind them. Representing the RGV Fishing Area and Waterway Cleanups Group, Ramon De la Fuente, Cynthia Hitchcox, and Richard Hitchcox had planned to depart Wednesday or Thursday with donated supplies—whatever they could carry. “Many thanks to Joan Rodriguez for offering up his cargo van for the trip,” Hitchcox shared. “Many thanks as well to Nataly Ramos for offering up supplies. We will take as many as will fit in our vehicles. Many thanks as well to William Isaac for offering up a turkey and some beef to feed the volunteers.”
The group thanked those who donated supplies, offered vehicles, and prepared food for volunteers, asking the community to keep flood victims in their prayers.
So quietly, with open hands and full hearts, they send what they can upstream.
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