Many times during a weather related disaster in another town, you think about something you could do to help. Your thoughts are in the right place but work, family, school get in the way.
That happened to Caleb Meadows after previous storms. “I wanted to help but I just wasn’t in a position to do it,” he said. Following the floods in the Texas Hill Country last weekend and especially the loss of life, Meadows saw an opportunity to help and jumped into action.
Meadows is the General Manager at Orange Stationer so he called his boss, Paul Dickerson, and asked if he could borrow his box truck to collect supplies. Dickerson, a member of Orange Rotary and the Lions Club, knows about “Service Above Self.” So he said yes.
Meadows comes from good stock. His family instilled “giving back” in him. His mom Kelly is a school nurse at LCM and among her accomplishments was the Stay and Play playground at the school for special needs children. Kelly put Caleb in touch with Kayla Casey who used to work for the school district and now works at Ingram Elementary School in Kerr County which has become a drop off point for supplies.
In less than 24 hours after the news hit, Meadows was loading up. He used the good side of social media to ask if anyone wanted to contribute. “The need is real, and the heart of this community is bigger than the storm.” To no surprise Orange County people, businesses, and organizations stepped up with supplies and monetary donations. “I appreciate everyone who helped. I even had someone pay for the gas to get me there and back.”
Monetary donations continued to come in as Meadows was driving solo. He was able to stop in Boerne and Seguin to purchase more supplies.
He was impressed with the organization of the drop off point. “The people there greeted me with a smile and we had the truck unloaded in a short time. They were very grateful and I was impressed with their attitudes in such an emotional time.”
He said he didn’t drive down to the river to witness the devastation. He wanted to leave on a good note and had already seen enough online. He was home Monday night after the six hour drive because he told his boss he would be at work Tuesday morning.
Thank you Caleb for representing Orange and thank you to all of those who helped make it possible. The next time we’re in need of help, a lot of those Hill Country folks will be the first ones to respond. And that’s what it is all about, helping one another.
-Gary Stelly, KOGT-
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