Serving food in Caldwell on Tuesday

We got word from our UMC district office that they could use a few willing workers in our neighbor town of Caldwell. Caldwell and Somerville (Burleson County) did not have wind and rain damage, but because they are on Entergy power, their lights have been off since the storm, with uncertainty about when the lights will be back on.

We were able to mobilize six of us to go and help serve a hot meal that was trucked in by three Red Cross vans from Bryan/College Station. We wore our BARK shirts!

I have never seen so much hot ravioli in my life. (And I may not be hungry for ravioli for a while!)

We reported for duty at 5:30 p.m. (as requested). The serving was supposed to start at 6 p.m., and a long line of cars began to appear. (This was a "drive through" operation - where people just rolled down their window and received the number of meals they needed.)

The food vans appeared about 6:20 p.m., and shortly thereafter the serving began. The Caldwell folks (including the pastor of the Baptist church) were surprised and grateful to see neighbors from Bellville helping to scoop ravioli!

The menu was hot ravioli, a hot dog bun, crackers and bottled water. We had granola bars also for the kids, and also some baby food. No idea how many we served. 1000+?? There were many grateful recipients, including one who wanted to pay for his meal! There was quite a bit left over that they took to the jail.

Fortunately we were able to complete the entire line of cars before sunset. After a little cleanup, we were back on the road to Bellville by 8:30.