Kindness warms hearts during historic winter weather event

Kindness warms hearts during historic winter weather event Main Photo

24 Feb 2021


news, Small Business

Felicia Frazar The Seguin Gazette

When the going got tough for the community during the historic winter storm, area businesses and residents opened their hearts, their cupboards and their kitchens to help out.

As the icy and snowy conditions knocked out electricity, linemen from GVEC responded, braving the below freezing temperatures to fix the issues.

Knowing what it’s like to work in such harsh conditions prompted Dilly Deli owners Mike Shillinger and Meagan Glisson to serve up warm meals to the workers.

“They were in need of some food and everywhere was closed, so we decided to come in here,” Shillinger said. “I’m originally from Pennsylvania. I’ve lived up and down the East Coast. I did underground utility work in Virginia for about four-and-a-half years. I worked outside in this kind of weather and it is brutal.”

The idea spurred from a phone call the couple received from another local food entrepreneur, owner of TNT Dogs, Glisson said. The business owners attempted to reach GVEC, but knew the electric cooperative’s call center was bogged down in calls related to more pressing matters. The couple decided to spread the word on social media, which took off.

“We knew we had a lot of customers that work at GVEC, so we figured someone would get to us,” Glisson said. “It was a fun, chaotic moment.”

The first day the couple put out a call, the linemen were already taken care of, so the restaurant dished up lunches for the Seguin office staff, Gilson said.

The restaurant prepared about 75 to 80 hot meals for GVEC’s linemen and office staff, serving up cheesesteak sandwiches, three amigos, mac ’n cheese, desserts and more.

“We did what we could with what we had for these guys,” Shillinger said.

The Dilly Deli wasn’t the only local business to help out the community when grocery store shelves were bare.

A community member put a call out to local restaurants and residents on the New Seguin Food Critic Facebook page searching for a gallon of milk to buy for his child, even offering to pay an inflated price. Burnt Bean Co. co-owner Ernest Servantes stepped in and offered for the father to visit the restaurant and pick up a gallon at no charge.

Kirby’s Korner ventured to San Antonio and picked up milk, eggs and bread from Sysco’s will call and shared with area residents.

“We waited almost 6 hours in line, but Kirby’s has picked up a load of milk, eggs, and a limited amount of bread from Sysco San Antonio Warehouse and we’re heading back to the restaurant,” the restaurant’s social media post read on Friday.

Seguin ISD’s Child Nutrition staff handed out about 800 lunches Friday and Saturday to area families for children and delivered bottled water donated by Niagara Bottling Company to McQueeney Elementary students.

Guadalupe County Emergency Management Coordinator Patrick Pinder delivered several pallets of water Friday, Saturday and Monday to volunteer fire departments to hand out to community members without water.

View article on SeguinGazette.com