Out in the sweltering heat of Southeast Texas, city officials and armed services find the time to make a difference in people’s lives by donating much-needed supplies to those who have little to none.
Nearly a week after Harvey hit the Southeast Texas area with historical amounts of rainfall and inundated it with record floodwaters, city of Port Arthur workers and United States Army personnel were donating food and supplies to lines of residents at the Thomas Jefferson Stadium parking lot.
According to Milton Williams with the Parks and Recreation Deparment, they have been doing that since it was possible to come back to the city.
“I’ve been here since day one, no days off,” Williams said under the relentless midday sun. “The trucks come from everywhere to bring stuff to people.”
Milton’s day typically starts at 7 a.m. and doesn’t end until everything’s taken care of or, as he put it, “We stay here until they don’t need us.”
With a line of cars that doubles back and snakes through the TJ Stadium parking lot at least three times—and renews itself seemingly every minute—Milton’s workday could be long indeed.
“We serve over 300 to 500 people a day,” Sidney Keal, a parks and recreation employee said. Although he admitted that that number was probably a conservative estimate.
Keal said a typical day for him and workers is one of “non-stop moving around.”
Keal said everything from diapers to wipes to feminine hygiene products to food are offered at the stadium parking lot where they are placed into residents’ vehicles by army and city personnel.
Williams and Keal were also quick to point out their hometown roots in Port Arthur, each being a graduate of former high schools Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, respectively. In fact, Williams could be seen sporting his TJ Yellow Jacket baseball cap as he loaded goods into vehicles.