The Holmgreen Haus: The Spirit of the People

"You ask me what I like about Texas I tell you it's the wide open spaces!

It's everything between the Sabine and the Rio Grande. It's the Llano Estacado, It's the Brazos and the Colorado; Spirit of the people down here who share this land!"

Gary P. Nunn penned those words a good while back. They have never held more true in my heart after what I experienced this past weekend. With our rivers and lakes overflowing with water, I witnessed firsthand the "spirit of the people down here who share this land!"

Last Monday on the 25th, my wife decided she wanted to spearhead and coordinate a flood relief donation drive in conjunction with our church, Cross Trails Cowboy Church. Being 200 miles away didn't stop people from caring. The love and generosity that overflowed from the Orange Grove, Alice, and Corpus Christi communities exemplified that "spirit!" Our living room and garage was soon filled with supplies and we sorted them throughout the evenings. A horse trailer was left open at our church to hold donations that were dropped off and it was filled to the top. So much so that another was brought in to accommodate the overflow.

Sunday, May 31st, we headed north with three trailers in tow. Along the way we made a stop in San Antonio's North side, to pick up more items. A friend used her bar, Cootey's, as a drop off point for those in that community who wanted to help as well. I don't know how we were able to get that large donation to fit, but old school Tetris skills may have come into play.

We continued to San Marcos, where the majority of the items were donated and dropped off at the school district's warehouse. These are earmarked for the 38 or so families from Travis Elementary who were affected by the flood. We then headed into Wimberly, where we dropped off 1500+ pounds of pet food and live stock feed with W.A.G.S. (They are being used to distribute pet supplies to area shelters and to the loving families who have taken in foster animals at this time.)

Finally we made our last stop at Wimberly High School, where we dropped off cleaning supplies. It was in that gym that my heart sank. What I witnessed in there was that "spirit!" The amount of items donated at that one drop off point showed me a state that didn't fall apart during tragedy. Texas is not a place that looks to gain something when others lose everything. Texas is a place that holds out it's hand to lift those who have fallen. And I'm proud to say I have seen this to be true.

We want to thank everyone who donated their time, energy, and resources to this cause.

The spirit of the people down here, truly is beautiful.

Dave wrote this letter to the Alice Echo Newspaper after they ran an article on our efforts on Friday.