By Ericka Mellon, American Red Cross 

Naomie Rodriguez was tired and hungry after a morning of dialysis and house cleaning Saturday when she saw a food truck and Red Cross volunteers outside the Lowe’s in Kingwood.

The Red Cross has partnered with about a dozen food trucks in the greater Houston area to take meals to residents as they continue to repair their homes after Hurricane Harvey struck two weeks ago.

“I appreciate what y’all are doing for all of us,” said Rodriguez, whose first-floor apartment in Kingwood took in waist-high water. “Thank God we have Red Cross. It’s really, really good.”

Rodriguez said she had difficulty walking, so Matthew Mayner, a firefighter from Iowa who came down to Houston to volunteer for the Red Cross, hand-delivered chicken fingers, fries and a cold lemonade from the Cool Runnings Jamaican Grill food truck to her car.

As part of its response to Harvey, the Red Cross and its partners have served more than 1.2 million meals and snacks in Texas. The organization has trailers of supplies on the ground to support 16 kitchens, in addition to the partnership with food trucks to spread delivery into more neighborhoods.

Mayner, a father of five who also works at a nursing home, praised the generosity and concern for others that he has seen in Houston.