• Philip Burn

"The Salvation Army Did More Than Serve Food - They Were Our Heroes"

Corpus Christi, Texas (October 2, 2017) - A letter from a resident of a Senior Apartment complex in Corpus Christi:

“I just wanted to thank The Salvation Army. I know you are very busy right now. I have lived in Corpus Christi since 2009. Before that I lived in Florida for 22 years and experienced many hurricanes, including eight in the space of only two years in 2004/2005. I am disabled and on low income now. We have 200 apartments in our community, all of which are low income. There are quite a few residents who don't drive any more and many are over 70 years old, with some over 90. During Hurricane Harvey, only about 30 percent could evacuate and most people in the community stayed. No money to leave, no one to go to, and difficult for the elderly to go to shelters.

“We were six days without power and some of us were without hot water because the wind blew out our pilot light. We have two grills on the property and we cooked as much food as possible and gave it away before it went bad. We didn’t have too much damage, but other places like Rockport, Aransas Pass, Port Aransas and Houston area were not so lucky.

“I live on $755 a month. By the time I do grocery shopping, pay my car payment and insurance, rent, internet and phone, I only have around $35-$60 left to buy clothes and other needs. I lost close to $500 in the storm, which took me a while to save up. Many of us receive money for birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and other times, and I save that up all year and use it for extra food and other necessities.

“I can’t begin to tell you how important it was when your much-welcomed truck pulled in to our community and served meals to us. After three days, everyone here was worn out and had very little food. We lost everything in our freezers and refrigerators. No local stores were open, many of us were charging our cell phones in our cars. Our apartments were very warm. I want to thank The Salvation Army for myself and the other residents for thinking of us and bringing us some much-needed food.

“The Salvation Army people who served us were great and listened to all our troubles. They did more than serve food – they were our heroes. Your organization brought a lot of hope to our community. Again, thank you and God bless.”