Mobilizing in Midtown Houston: Stories of Generosity and Solidarity From Hurricane Harvey Recovery Efforts

Hurricane Harvey relief and recovery efforts are currently underway all across the city. In Midtown Houston, community members are volunteering in many capacities to help those in need.

Today, we’re focusing on two Midtown Houston stories of generosity. They demonstrate the strength of our community during and after Hurricane Harvey while highlighting the challenges ahead that we can overcome together.

Midtown Kitchen Collective Prepares Food For Flood Victims

Midtown Houston’s closely-knit food community came to the immediate aid of Hurricane Harvey flood victims. The restaurant and food community of Houston answered the call for help with incredible efficiency. They set up a base as Midtown Kitchen Collective at 2505 Fannin and began organizing multiple means of preparing and serving food. Throughout the week, they cooked hot meals and sandwiches, donating as much food as they could acquire to flood victims.

In total, they prepared a staggering 10,000 -15,000 hot meals per day and 1,800 sandwiches per hour. The Collective will continue to provide food until the service is no longer needed. This is just one example of the community collaborating toward a shared purpose.

Restaurant Owners Support Relief and Ensure Employees Get Paid

In Houston, we take care of our own. Nothing puts this credo into starker relief than the compassion displayed by Midtown Houston restaurant owners. Jennifer and Bryan Caswell took out insurance specifically so that employees would be paid even though their restaurant Reef has sustained damage.

In turn, their restaurant employees are devoting countless hours to Reef’s relief efforts since the damage did not prevent the kitchen from continuing to operate. Staff and volunteers have used it to cook breakfast tacos and sandwiches for 16,000 flood victims.

Time after time, individuals in Midtown Houston have shown their unwavering faith in one another.

Midtown Houston Returns to Park Programming Mission

We are so proud of our community’s solidarity in the wake of overwhelming devastation. As you take care of others, we’ve made sure you have the opportunity to also take care of yourself. We will continue our mission of promoting and developing local recreation by resuming Midtown Houston park programming.

Upcoming events will enable our parks to serve as hubs of activity for residents and visitors of Midtown Houston. Community members can assuage recent stress by interacting with neighbors, celebrating family time and taking part in favorite activities such as Midtown in Motion, Yappy Hour and Live at Lunch.

Check out the latest park entertainment and events here: https://midtownhouston.com/events/.

To donate and volunteer for Harvey recovery efforts, you’ll find a list of amazing resources on our last blog post.