My brother, Brian, runs the Houston Food bank. His house flooded on Sunday, but he’s been working full days coordinating with the government and other charities to get food where it’s needed. Those thousands of people sheltered at the Convention Center? Cots and blankets are the Red Cross. Getting food to them is the Food Bank. It’s an immense job, because there are shelters scattered all over the city, all of which are in urgent situations.
There are no guide books for “How Food Banks Can Prepare for Hurricanes,” but Brian does have the benefit of learning from the guy who ran the New Orleans Food Bank during Katrina. That guy would be … Brian. Yep, literally a month before his new gig at Houston started, Katrina hit while he was still running the New Orleans operation.
I hate that Brian has to deal with this again, because it’s rough on him. Honestly, though, he’s the best man for the job, so it’s good that he’s there. Sure, he’s my brother and I may be biased, but he’s really good at this. For starters, the largest food bank in the country isn’t New York, L.A., or Chicago. It’s Houston, which wasn’t even top ten when he first took the reigns. Brian did that. The Houston Food Bank is thankfully well stocked, and with the new facility he had built, it’s ultra-efficient. That’s going to pay off during this next few weeks.
