Some first responders with the Lubbock Salvation Army are back in the hub city after spending 14-days along the coastal bend helping Hurricane Harvey victims.
Rudy Zapata has been responding to disasters for 18 years all over the country. Growing up in Houston he said this one literally hit home, and it was heart wrenching for him to see how many people were displaced from this storm.
“My stomping grounds, they were underwater,” Zapata said. “An elderly man came out of his house and he had nothing left, but he hugged me and said ‘I knew you would come, I knew you guys were going to be here,”
Setting up at the Brown Convention Center, the Lubbock Red Cross set up their canteen to help with relief efforts.
“The two weeks we were there, we served closed to four thousand meals, there were 40 other canteens as well, and everyone was grateful to see us,” Zapata said.
In two weeks, Zapata will be heading back to Houston joined by corps officer, Captain Nathanael Doria who said this is a time to spread love.
“Many people recieve help that has changed their lives, I can tell you in 1955 my mother and her family received help from the Salvation Army, and now I’m with the Salvation Army to help folks the same way my family was helped many many years ago” Doria said.
To learn how to join relief efforts you can visit: www.SalvationArmyLubbock.org
