Evacuees receive $100 gift cards from H-E-B

SAN BENITO - Gloria Flores, a resident of the Kenneth Lake Housing Development, is still in a shelter, but when she moves to a new housing development in Harlingen, she'll have $100 to fill her pantry.

Thursday morning,
H-E-B officials donated 52 gift cards worth $100 each to families displaced by Hurricane Dolly.

"We all appreciate it," Flores said after receiving her gift card at the San Benito Municipal Building, a few blocks away from the Fuel 7 Student Center, the city's only shelter.

The food she purchased before the hurricane was lost when she left her home to seek shelter.

Along with her food, the unit itself had extensive damage.

"It's gone," she said. "It's unreal."

Ernie Mercado, store director for the local H-E-B, said the donation was to help the families in their move to Harlingen housing developments.
"This is so they can get started," he said.

San Benito native Abel Martinez, a vice president for partner relations for H-E-B in San Antonio, initiated the assistance along with Arnold Padilla, the executive director of the Housing Authority of San Benito.

"We've gotten a lot of support from the community," Padilla said.

About 17 families have already been placed in units and another three are in shelters coordinating their moves to Harlingen.

"H-E-B has assisted the community as a whole," Mayor Joe H. Hernandez said. "They have gone above and beyond in service for San Benito."

By Friday, Padilla said every family should be identified with a unit.

"A week later after the hurricane, that's some-thing to be proud of," he said.

City officials began working with their counterparts in Harlingen as early as two days after the storm to relocate 54 families from the housing development, which was inundated with floodwaters.

The 26 buildings in the development had approximately 18 inches of water in some areas. Up to 3 feet of water surrounded the development.